


New Glow

by LiinHaglund



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Assassins & Hitmen, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Out of Character, Precognition, Psychic Abilities, Schuldig Is His Own Warning, Secret Organizations, Telepathy, Threesome - M/M/M, post-Gluhen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-10
Updated: 2012-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-14 13:40:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5745916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiinHaglund/pseuds/LiinHaglund
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story where the world suddenly took a left turn and pretended like it had planned to do that all along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally transferred this! In many ways the series "If You Can't" is a variation of this story both in terms of Ran's talent and regarding the threesome (which is probably my OTP). While "If You Can't" ignores Glühen, this one was started a few years prior to being posted the first time and right after I finished watching Glühen. 
> 
> This one is a massive beast in its own right and one of the few works I've done which takes Glühen into account. 
> 
> The story takes place after Kapitel and Glühen, though I took some liberty with the absolute end of Glühen. Because, fuck that shit. The first chapter takes place after Ran leaves Japan, but before he's stabbed. I really hate Glühen, but you cannot unsee things.

There were perks to working alone. Ran tried to convince himself that leaving Kritiker to think he was dead and running off to the US under a fake identity had been a good idea. He was tired of Kritiker – of Persia being too weak, of being stuck in a unit that was dysfunctional more than professional, of the subtle and not-so-subtle threats to keep him in line.

But, all that aside, chasing down jobs on your own was tiring and annoying. He had a contact within the FBI he somewhat trusted, a guy who would give him little odds and ends jobs. Find this. Fetch that. Kill him. Save her. Boring, but sanctioned. He wasn't sure sanctioned mattered anymore. He was a killer for hire and he was a good one. His moral compass was more than a little broken.

He supposed he felt worse about not being able to stop than anything else. Getting a normal job, have a normal life, it all seemed so dull and subdued. He wanted the thrills of barely getting away, the high of figuring something complicated out, even if he didn't admit to it.

“You'll be working with two others, they're very professional guys, one is a bit loony though,” the middle-aged man prattled on in English. His name was John Doe, he claimed. Ran didn't question it outwardly, but he did know that the man's name was actually Ralph Green. “We don't have much info, but you seem to be able to find things out on your own.”

They walked into an office. It was a decent size, the FBI agent was some kind of manager. He was also not very bright, but he paid enough.

Ran wasn't sure if he should laugh or draw a weapon when he saw Schuldig absently balance on the back of a worn chair. The Oracle of Schwarz was leaning against the wall. They had changed their appearances again.

Schuldig's hair was dark blond, Crawford's a light brown. They were in combat boots, blue jeans, white shirts and black leather jackets. Crawford looked like he was contemplating kicking over the chair just for the brief fun of it.

“Ah, you're early, glad you could make it,” Ralph introduced the three assassins to each other by their fake names.

“We have met before,” Crawford spoke up in English, then he looked Ran straight in the eyes and asked quietly in Japanese if he could work together with them.

“I won't cause any drama if you don't,” he said calmly in Japanese.

“I'm not here for drama,” Crawford said. “Just following a vision.”

The FBI agent obviously didn't speak the language and looked on with a puzzled frown.

“We used to work for different companies,” Crawford smoothly lied in English. “Like I told you, we used to be bodyguards in Japan.”

“Ah,” Ralph smiled. “Well. I trust there will be no problem? No? Good. We think these guys are planning a terrorist attack.”

Ran suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, but Schuldig didn't. Crawford only looked mildly amused, in a condescending way. Ralph gave them pictures and names, and stressed the importance of making sure they were dead. Like they were a bunch of amateurs, instead of some of the most deadly men still in business.

They played along with the agent, listening to the information he had. When they were dismissed they walked out together.

Crawford made to start talking, but Ran shook his head. This entire building was bugged and he made a hand signal to communicate that fact. They went to a nearby café for breakfast, outwardly. It was busy, making their low voices hard to pick up.

“Are you absolutely sure you have no problem working with us?” Crawford said quietly in Japanese. “I'd rather not go in having to worry about being shot in the back.”

“I'm sure,” Ran nodded. “It's not a three man job though, at the very least not if they're trained like Green suggests. Their numbers alone can be a problem.”

Crawford nodded. “They're trained. Very well trained. It's a private military corporation. A few of them are working under Eszett. I doubt they have any terrorist plots in mind, more likely a rival group has friends in high places.”

“Or they're taking the fall for someone,” Ran shrugged. “It'll look good in the press, no doubt.”

Crawford snorted. “Undoubtedly.”

“What's wrong with Schuldich?” Ran indicated his head towards Schuldig, who looked very dazed and spacy between bouts of unfocused energy.

“Drugs,” Crawford whispered. “His painkillers are strong enough to put an elephant out of commission. Sometimes they're necessary, even if I wish they weren't.”

 

* * *

 

Ran met up with Crawford and Schuldig at the tiny airport in the small city... well, it had 'city' in the name at least, where the targets had their base. Schuldig looked unfocused and tired. He noted it but made no comment.

They had new identities from the ones they had when they met with the FBI. Ran expected the authorities to fuck him over, and Crawford seemed to have the same idea. There was a reason why Ran gave most of his money to charities. He was pretty sure the American government was tracking their hired helpers. He didn't particularly need the money anymore, even if he did like having some.

“We should stick together,” Crawford suggested. “Work as a team.”

Ran nodded once. It was in everyone's best interest to work well together at the moment. The one who looked the most relieved was Schuldig.

They sat up a base in a motel. It was clean, but the clientèle was of the shady sort. No one would notice them slip in and out at odd hours.

The first thing Schuldig did was curl up on a bed and fall sleep.

“I have blue prints and various things I managed to hack from their system,” Ran volunteered. It was on a flash drive in his pocket. Normally he would have simply relied on his memory, but he had suspected they would have to share intel, and he had no idea exactly how Schuldig picked up on thoughts, or if he was even reliable these days.

“You know how to hack?” Crawford asked with his eyebrows slightly raised. He didn't seem genuinely surprised, more cautiously hopeful.

“I'm not as good as others are, but I'm better than the average computer geek.”

“Good, let's compare notes then. Normally I plan missions alone, but I doubt you'll just fall in line and follow orders. We used to be on the other side of the fence, after all.”

Ran shrugged. He packed up a laptop and started it up. Crawford did the same, sitting next to him so that they could see each other's screens once they had both logged in. Crawford pulled up a few files and they switched their computers.

Ran took his time going over the data, the silence broken only when Schuldig whimpered or tossed on the bed. Crawford went over to him when it got really bad, staying still with his hands on the telepath's temples. Ran worried his lower lip, but kept reading.

“Is he alright?” Ran asked when Crawford got up and walked over to the table again.

Crawford sighed tiredly and started polishing his glasses even though they were spotless. “No, honestly speaking. He went through a lot of abuse growing up and it's catching up to him. His body is damaged, even if he's lucid when he's not drugged. The joy of being what I am is that I know he'll ask me to end it for him soon.”

“Will you?”

“I don't think I could,” Crawford said quietly. “I keep hoping I can find a way to fix it, or that it'll heal on its own.”

Ran had no idea how to respond to that, so he didn't. He just gave a slow nod that he had heard. “They're not Palestinians. This document is in Hebrew, not Arabic.”

“I honestly can't tell the difference,” Crawford said disinterestedly.

“Google.com, you should try it sometime,” Ran said.

Crawford rolled his eyes and put the glasses back on, but he smiled. “Smug piece of shit.”

“Must take one to know one,” Ran grinned back. “I thought the US had the hots for Israel?”

Crawford nodded. “Yes, generally speaking. Our favorite agent must have fucked up good.”

“His problem. Idiot pays up front, he gets his targets killed no matter what.”

Crawford smiled again. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

Ran shrugged and went back to reading the files. He finished a few minutes before Crawford, minutes he spent idly browsing the company's official website.

“We should split up, go in from all three main entrances, then meet up,” Crawford said when he had finished.

“Going through the front door could be risky,” Ran pointed out. “The party they're hosting will drain security, but the town is small. They've likely dealt with the people attending before, such as guests and caterers.”

“Schuldig can manage that,” Crawford said confidently.

“Radio silence would be best,” Ran mused. “If your pet telepath can manage communication, that would work, otherwise we'll sync our watches and go in deaf.”

“My pet telepath?” Crawford scoffed. “Yes, he should manage that if you have the stomach to be linked with him. What type of weapon are you using?”

“Gun, a few knives as back up.”

“You can use a gun?”

“Yes. I don't like guns, but sometimes they're handy. A sword attracts too much attention around here.”

“What else can you use?”

“On a basic level? Pretty much anything.”

Crawford nodded. “Schuldig and I were mainly trained for unarmed combat. I prefer guns and bombs. Less of a dry cleaning bill. Schuldig has a bit of a love affair with his gun, but he usually doesn't kill his victims.”

Ran nodded. “No need for bombs here, we need to leave corpses. What about slipping out?”

“If we don't raise the alarm we can just walk out.”

“Confident, huh?”

“Always,” Crawford nodded. “Watch over Schuldig for a bit, I need to take care of a few things.”

“Fine. Buy some food while you're out,” Ran tossed a bill at Crawford.

“You trust me to bring you food?”

“You need me, especially if that telepath of yours doesn't snap out of it soon.” Ran indicated a Schuldig curled in on himself like a scared kid.

“Confident, huh?”

Ran raised an eyebrow, daring Crawford to prove him wrong. Crawford laughed suddenly and left still laughing. Ran wasn't sure if Crawford was nuts, or if he knew something about the future that he himself should be very worried about. Both options were plausible.

 

* * *

 

They took turns sleeping. Crawford worried over Schuldig and Ran didn't mind it. He felt better knowing at least one human being meant something to the normally callous Oracle. Ran was keeping watch when Schuldig groggily got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

“There's food left if you're hungry,” he said quietly in English when the German came back into the main room. His accent was still heavy and the words were difficult to shape right. His writing and reading were perfect, but speaking foreign languages perfectly took more practice than he had yet had. Except French, but that was an altogether different story.

“Thanks,” Schuldig mumbled. He grabbed a foil wrapped sandwich and sat down by the table with more grace than he had showed since Ran last saw him in Japan.

“You gonna be OK?”

“I'll be fine for the mission,” Schuldig shrugged. “Almost like a hangover though.” His English was infinitely better than Ran's. He still looked drugged and his movements struck Ran as slow and shaky.

“There's some sort of party they're hosting in a few nights. Employees and their spouses. We'll hit then.”

“I'll just pick it from either of your heads later,” Schuldig nodded tiredly. He ate slowly, as if it was likely he would get sick at any given point. Ran wasn't surprised when Schuldig ran for the bathroom to throw up the little bit he had eaten. He followed behind at a slower pace. It wasn't really compassion that drove him to do it, more a habit to help out wherever he was needed.

He held back the German's unruly hair, noticing that the skin was burning hot. He grabbed a towel with one hand and ran it under the sink's tap, then pressed the cool cloth to Schuldig's forehead. The drops of water from the towel that ran down the pale face almost looked like tear stains, making the telepath look a lot more vulnerable than he was. Schuldig didn't need his physical shell to cause trouble.

Still, he looked much younger and more vulnerable. He could see why Crawford doted on the blue eyed man. As fierce as he was in battle, as ruthless and cruel he could be, Schuldig was also very much a normal guy beneath it all.

Ran helped Schuldig stand up when it became clear whatever strength he had possessed was gone. He flushed the toilet and sat Schuldig down on top of the lid. Making him rinse his mouth with water and then giving him a toothbrush was about his limit of good deeds. He started to leave, but Schuldig weakly grabbed a fistful of Ran's shirt in a silent plea for him to stay before he could get more than a step away.

And he did. He was of half a mind to wake Crawford up and have him deal with his underling's health problems, but he knew Crawford had been dead on his feet before all but falling unconscious into bed. Schwarz was not the inhuman demons he had many times imagined them to be.

A hand found its way to Schuldig's wild hair and soothingly carded through it while the German brushed his teeth with uncoordinated movements.

“Thank you,” Schuldig whispered when he was done.

“I'll help you back to bed,” Ran offered. “You're as weak as a newborn.”

Schuldig nodded, but once there he didn't let go. Ran sighed and sat against the headboard so that Schuldig could lay down with his messy blond head in his lap. He carded his hand through the soft hair once again, because it seemed to relax the other man.

“You're a cat, you know that?” Ran said amused when Schuldig made a content noise.

There was only a soft hum for a reply. Ran contemplated moving when Schuldig's breathing evened out, but figured he could sit where he was just as well as by the table.

After a few hours he settled Schuldig and went to his laptop.

 

* * *

 

Brad Crawford normally hated sleeping half a day away, but he was willing to make an exception today since he had barely slept in two weeks. He trusted Ran to be honorable enough not to stab them in the back. The man had been a fair foe in Weiss, if a very creative one. He slowly sat up in bed and put his glasses on. He really wasn't fond of the current pair, but the did the job well enough.

“Good morning,” Johan said cheerfully in German. He was cleaning his favorite gun. “The White One said he would be back soon. Something about food and whatnots.”

“Morning. How are you feeling?” Brad asked hopefully. Johan looked a lot better, his eyes were clear and he moved without shaking.

“Awful, actually. I threw up last night. Mostly my own fault for trying to eat. Fujimiya helped me, tucked me in and everything. If I hadn't been so weak I would have been shocked.”

“He seems different,” Brad nodded. “Unlike the rest of Weiss he's uncannily clever, so don't let your guard down too much.”

“He's not Weiss anymore. He's given up on it.” Johan sighed. “I'm so tired, Brad. Can we take a break after this? Please?”

“Sure,” Brad said without hesitation. He knew he was too eager to please, but Johan and he were so close to one another that he needed to make sure he was safe. People automatically assumed they were either brothers or lovers. It was more complicated than either option, and simpler at the same time. If they felt like having sex, they did. If they didn't, they didn't. They weren't exclusive. They had other bed partners, but no one came close to the bond they had.

Johan went over to where Brad was still sitting in bed, slumping down and wrapping too-thin arms around him. Brad sighed and hugged back.

“It'll get better,” Brad said quietly.

“Don't lie to me. I know you're just trying to make me feel better. You've been tailing after that kitten for years, if I'm not around you should at least get the balls to go after him.”

“The problem with that is that I want you around.”

“I'm fine with a threesome,” Johan snickered. “I'm not exactly monogamous.”

“Yes, just remind me not to leave you alone with underage girls.”

“Your morals are as shot to Hell as mine, so don't pretend you care.”

“I'll pretend whatever is necessary.”

Johan grinned, a suppressed laugh bubbling just beneath the surface. Brad smiled and carded a hand through the unruly hair.

“You should get some more rest,” Brad suggested.

Johan laughed. “You know what's funny? I slept. After I threw up, I mean. I felt sort of okay waking up too.”

“That's good. You didn't take any pills?” Brad drew swirling patterns on Johan's scalp. It always made the telepath lazy and mellow when he did that.

“No. It would be shitty if I had to be sick in order to sleep.”

“Probably exhaustion, not that you thew up.” Brad smiled. Sometimes Johan had strange ideas about how things connected.

 

* * *

 

The mission night came around quickly. Ran successfully sneaked in through the western entrance to the main compound. While Schuldig had recovered well enough Crawford had given him a stern order to stay close to him at all times instead of going in alone like their original plan had been. Schuldig had shrugged, apparently used to deferring to Crawford's whims.

Ran though it wise, Schuldig was clearly not in the best shape. If he could aim well enough to hit the broad end of a barn Ran would be surprised. The two of them were going to go through the southern entrance, which was an underground tunnel.

The company party was just starting out. A handful of catering vans were parked all over the place. They were setting up a large barbeque in the middle of the open area between the main buildings. All the visitors and catering staff had key cards with a blue stripe.

Ran swiped the red key card he had relieved from a guard on his way in to gain access to the building where the higher ups where having a yearly meeting.

“ _Try to get a key card with a red stripe, they seem to have higher access. Blue and yellow seem very restricted_ ,” he thought. Schuldig had set up some kind of mind link between the two of them. It felt like an ephemeral steel band around his head, loose enough not to hurt, but still firmly there.

“ _Gotcha_ ,” came the perky reply. The quiet communication was something of an advantage. The words were always loud and clear, like they were sitting next to each other talking. Not the whispered, static filled noise he was used to.

The building he entered was a typical office, slate gray carpeted floors and leafy potted plants in the deserted hallways. They needed to avoid raising the alarm. The gun he carried had a silencer for this reason. He knew he had to shoot everyone he ran into before they could alert the others.

All other kinds of security, like cameras, was disabled. Ran had learned enough in his time in Kritiker to be able to bypass most of the systems used without a hitch. Since no one was monitoring the override it could still be broken, but it gave them enough time to finish undetected. Hopefully they were more lax tonight with the lure of a party hanging over their heads.

Five dead employees later found him waiting outside the open doors of the meeting room. He was hidden from view, a shadow behind a decorative blue drape. He could feel the approach of the other two from the way the link felt.

“ _You're really not supposed to notice it_ ,” Schuldig's voice came inside his head.

“ _They're wrapping up, we should get going_ ,” Ran sent instead of commenting. It wasn't important enough. The bosses of the company were the targets they had been given by the FBI, half of them of Middle Eastern heritage.

“ _We will have some trouble getting out_ ,” Crawford's annoyed voice cut in.

Ran wasn't bothered by that. Nothing was ever easy in his world.

He whirled around and dropped to a crouch when he heard a commotion behind them. It left Crawford to finish off the targets, but he didn't care. He had been on a team long enough to have had it drilled into him to watch out for his teammates.

The guards that came running at the sound of screams were armed, but a bullet to the forehead was a good way of stopping them. Schuldig had a hard time dodging the bullets, and that bothered Ran. He was in charge of covering them, but he hardly looked well enough to be out of bed now.

“All down?” he asked out loud.

“All down,” Crawford confirmed.

Ran nodded. Schuldig had his eyes firmly closed and muttered incoherently about alarms and gates and lock-down. Clearly, there really would be some trouble making it out.

He waved for the other two to follow and started to go down a corridor that was slightly to the right. He had to pick the lock to the door leading out to the stairwell. The blueprints had made this seem like a good way to end up behind the tall hedge out front, somewhat hidden from view. The area was surrounded by chain-link fencing, but the absolute front of the building they were in faced the street. It was risky, and bordering on suicide, but it was not what anyone would suspect. They would expect attackers to sweep the area, not do a hit and run. There had been a catering van parked right outside, a make and model Ran knew was easy to hot wire.

It turned out it was just a matter of shooting three guards and two civilians armed with guns. Everybody was armed in this country. Then they were off, even if they would have to switch vehicles quickly. Ran drove, in fact the other two were merely tagging along at this point. It made it easier, even if he knew at least Crawford hated taking orders from others.

“ _Visions_ ,” Schuldig's mental voice supplied. “ _He sometimes gets a lot of them, that's why he's acting weird. He must feel safe with you to not fight it._ ”

“ _I'll get you out of this mess, but then I'm disappearing_ ,” Ran decided.

Schuldig nodded. “ _Thanks._ ”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Ran Fujimiya woke up in a hospital bed. He clearly remembered being stabbed by a child on a cold New York street. After that he didn't remember much, oddly enough, just disjointed bits and pieces of smells and sounds. The pain was making his head spin even though he could feel the dampening effect of painkillers clouding his mind. A doctor stood by his bedside, apparently expecting him to wake up right when he had. The man looked European.

“Ah, good, you're awake,” the doctor nodded, speaking English with an accent that stressed the consonants too much. “Don't worry, you will be just fine. Your friends brought you in just in time. They should be back shortly.”

He nodded towards the physician, indicated that he had heard and understood. He knew for certain that he should get out of the hospital before whoever had brought him here came back. The only friends he had were on a different continent, and he trusted those only because they had worked together for a long time.

If whoever had brought him here still lingered it was a very bad sign. The doctor casually walked out of the room.

“Not so fast,” a familiar nasal voice said in Japanese, before Ran even moved a muscle. Schuldig was in faded jeans and a black tank top, looking oddly normal. No crazy hair, the ginger locks fell flat around his face. He looked healthier than when last Ran had seen him. “We just came to talk. I could have killed you a dozen times just on the way here, anyway.”

“Don't sit up,” Crawford insisted. He held his hand up in the air, probably to stop Ran from lounging at them, then put both hands in his pockets when no attack came. He noticed that the American was once again black haired and wearing a pair of modern glasses. The neat suit wasn't completely unexpected. “We are not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

“Talk about what?” Ran decided he might as well listen. He was at a disadvantage, the smart thing to do was to wait and see what happened. Sure, four months ago they had worked together, but who knew what went on in their heads?

“ _I do._ ”

Ran glared at the telepath.

“I need to build a new team. I'm offering you to join us,” Crawford said.

“Why?”

“Because we worked well together. Because I've had visions about it. Because I know you can kill. I don't have the time to train a puppy, I want a trained attack dog.”

“I'll be your dog? Hardly original,” Ran scoffed. “Birman made me an offer like that once.”

“Better than a cat,” Schuldig smirked.

Crawford looked unsure for a second, then he tilted his head slightly and smiled. “Being part of a team is safer, I'm sure you miss having backup.”

“Alright, fine, I'll join,” Ran agreed with a final nod. He could see the chock on both faces. On one hand he felt like he had just struck a deal with the Devil, but on the other hand... working alone was wearing him thin. He longed for company more than he feared Schwarz. Ran wasn't bothered by the fact that he just might live to regret it all, he regretted a lot of things already.

Crawford recovered first, with a pleased smile. “I had expected to have to do more to convince you,” he admitted casually.

“You like your own voice too much,” Ran said slowly. He suspected that most of the people Crawford fucked over never saw it coming. Charming and polite, but calculative and dangerous.

Schuldig smirked and barely hid a laugh. Ran wasn't sure if he should be worried, or if the normally cocky foreigner was just back to being himself. If he had known every thought people had he would most likely be an asshole to everyone. He knew all too well the difference between his inner thoughts and his spoken words and the polite lie that often separated the two.

Crawford nodded, ignoring the jab, still seeming too pleased with himself. “You won't regret it. Schuldig will stay with you until you're discharged. I'll make sure your belongings are moved.”

Schuldig displayed obvious dislike for the order on his face, but the German still stayed put when Crawford left. He looked pained, but he hid it behind a mask of boredom.

“Why did you agree so easily? We're not good guys, per se,” he asked Ran when the room had been silent for a while.

“Neither is Kritiker a lot of the time.”

“Whatever made you piece that together?” Schuldig pushed off the wall he was leaning against, but allowed his body to fall back against it. Restless by nature.

“Apart from being led by the Takatori family?”

Schuldig smiled a smile that was almost a smirk, but not quite. “Assholes,” he spat. “You know I got beat up with a golf club by Reiji once?”

“I'm sure you were totally innocent,” Ran muttered. He remembered all too well all the things the German had been responsible for.

“It was mostly Farf's fault,” Schuldig hedged. “I'm fine with Crawford punishing me, but that never involves being beaten half to death.”

“You seem like the type to end up in trouble a lot,” Ran said.

“I'm a bit hotheaded. I do things on impulse. You're like a mix of me and Crawford. He's planning and analyzing. Doesn't rush off, but he's not hiding his emotions unless he has to. You'll plan and analyze, but then rush off and do things without thinking them through when something happens. But you're scared. You hide. I've only seen that glare on you. Everything else is always locked away under that cold and angry mask of yours.”

“Says the guy who can only smirk,” Ran shrugged.

“Maybe you're more like me than you think, maybe glaring and smirking is supposed to push people away.”

“It works,” Ran said.

“It works,” Schuldig nodded.

Every time people came close by the room Schuldig looked more pained, and Ran figured it had to do with that talent of his. If it was true, and they were alike, then he would happily kill a lot of people because of what went on in their heads.

There was a pause when Schuldig trailed slender fingers over objects in the room while he stalked closer. “I'm an empath as well. I feel what you do. Empathy is a burden in a way telepathy isn't. It makes you know your victims. Makes you cry their tears. But they're wrong. I don't feel guilty. I feel elated. It's a weight off my soul every time something dies.”

“Clever, aren't you?” Schuldig walked over and sat down by his feet on the hospital bed. “You see me wince and you know a little more about me. That's why he wants you. Because you're clever.”

“Not clever enough to avoid a child with a knife,” Ran stated.

Schuldig, oddly, didn't gloat. “Almost bled out in the street too. I suppose this means we're not enemies anymore. Permanently. Awkward.”

“Might take a bit getting used to,” Ran nodded.

“Mm. Want to start over? My head is killing me and I sort of agree with Crawford. You might be a good addition. It went well enough last time.” Schuldig held out a hand.

Ran took the hand and got a soft smile for it. “Alright, I'll give you a chance. What's wrong with your head?”

“Dunno. I figure it will just explode one of these days from all the extra thoughts and feelings that aren't mine.” Schuldig shrugged. He looked tired and worn. “I am tired.”

“Get some sleep then. I'm not going anywhere it seems.” There was only a plastic chair in the room, so he patted the bed and scooted over a little to leave some more room.

Schuldig nodded. The German carefully laid down on his side, narrowly squeezing into the thin space left to him, putting his head on Ran's left shoulder. Ran wasn't bothered by the body contact. He moved his hand to Schuldig's head and stroked the silky hair.

“Don't panic and kill me when you wake up,” Schuldig mumbled. Slowly, very slowly, he relaxed. “I like living.”

“Hush, as long as you behave I will too,” Ran whispered. It felt nice, if he admitted it to himself. He was still not too sure about the two Schwarz assassins. Was he really so starved for human interaction that he would risk damning himself to new depths? The answer was as simple as it was chilling. His hand stilled on Schuldig's head. He was.

“Nothing wrong with wanting to belong,” Schuldig mumbled sleepily.

“Sch, get some sleep so I can think alone.”

Schuldig snickered. “Sure. Thanks for last time. I know you don't like me, but thanks for treating me like a person.”

 

* * *

 

He must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up it was dark and quiet. The warm body snuggled up next to him stirred slightly, but didn't wake. Ran felt eyes on him, so he assumed Crawford had returned. The guilt of all the lives he had taken was nothing compared to the weight of developing finely tuned senses and reflexes. When people did manage to surprise him it was more luck than anything else that stopped him from killing them.

He was a dangerous creature by now. He couldn't settle down quietly, he had known that for a long time. He was cursed and if that was the way it was going to be, then he might as well stick to what he did best.

The needle connected to the IV was itching, so he gave in and scratched gently at the nearby skin. It was the first real movement he had made since waking up, and he had to lift his hand to get around the still form of Schuldig. He was on edge and everything around him was carefully taken into account. Schuldig was probably not asleep, but in case he was Ran tried to not jostle him.

“Oh, you're awake,” Crawford said from a corner in the room. “Don't do anything rash.”

“Like what?”

Crawford rose from the plastic chair and walked over to the bed. He stood by the edge of it so that Ran had one former enemy on each side of him. “Killing the annoying German for one.”

“He's been well behaved,” Ran said with a bit of suspicion in his voice.

“Good.” Crawford reached across him and gently stroked a hand over Schuldig's hair. “Schuldig?” When there was no response Crawford sighed. “I know you're awake.”

Schuldig muttered in what Ran assumed was German. He could guess that the telepath was unwilling to move.

“I would, but you need to talk to the friendly doctor about your painkillers while we're in town. Get up. I'm not listening to your whining later,” Crawford said. Ran though that not only would Crawford listen, he would also play mother hen until Schuldig decided it was time to stop whining.

Schuldig sighed wearily, then flashed Ran one of his grins. “Don't move, Kitten. I'll be back in a sec.” Schuldig walked out while stretching.

Crawford stayed where he was with an almost fond smile briefly playing on his face. When they were alone Crawford placed a hand on his forehead. “Don't. Just listen. I know you will benefit from being with us because I can see the future. I know you have a few reservations and I'll go down the list as far as I have Seen them. Not quite telepathy, but it works.”

Ran nodded, which Crawford allowed. His hand was merely resting on Ran's skin, but it stayed where it was. “First, the only ulterior motive here is that I didn't want to train someone from scratch. I want your skills, simple as that. I'm quite willing to let you pass up on immoral things if that makes you stick around for the rest.”

There was a short pause. Ran still felt uneasy, but at the same time he started to relax. “I lead Schwarz. You will obey me, but I prefer my team to be loyal and not a bunch of mindless goons. Question me in private and I will listen, question me in public and I will punish you. Do a good job and I will reward you. The pay depends on the job, but even without any assignments I will keep you fed and clothed.”

“We're freelancing right now, so we need to keep a low profile. There is no large organization to back us up if we screw ourselves over,” Crawford said. His steady voice was almost lulling Ran back to sleep. “You're weak, get some rest. I'll take care of everything.”

Ran frowned when the hand disappeared. The loss of warmth was almost enough to keep him awake, but the injury had taken its toll. He knew Crawford was trying to manipulate him. He almost wanted to glare and call him out on it, but at the same time... to what end?

 

* * *

 

Brad smiled at the two sleeping redheads. Johan was sleeping peacefully and Ran seemed to be just as relaxed. He puller a chair over and sat down with a book. He rarely had time to read, but when he did he took the opportunity.

The doctor came in to check on Ran briefly. It was a serious wound, but the young man was healing up quickly.

Brad looked at his wristwatch. There was a clock on the wall, but he didn't trust clocks anymore. The little shit he had just hired knew about his weakness. Brad's lips thinned a little in annoyance when he thought back. It was brilliant, really, truly brilliant. Ran had somehow managed to make all the clocks to show different hours in an entire city block. It had been a minor mission, nothing important, but no one had needed to see the future to tell that the two groups would bump into each other.

If it had been any other member of Weiss, they would have found out, but Johan had always had trouble reading Ran and he himself had trouble getting visions of actions that were a spur of the moment. Ran thought on his feet, and that made Brad loose a little of his edge over the young man.

It was about time them to wake, but he didn't have any cause for concern. Not yet. Better to let them sleep and not fret. Johan needed sleep to heal and Brad was reluctant to wake him up unnecessarily.

 

* * *

 

The second time he woke up with a telepath snuggled up next to him, Ran just dismissed the fact. It was nice and he was cold, so the warmth of another body was very welcome. He felt oddly stiff, like he had slept longer than he should have. He hadn't opened his eyes – his annoying, paranoid habit firmly in place. Listen first, see if it's safe, then get up.

“I'm telling you now,” Crawford warned someone tersely, “that I need to know what you gave him.”

“Nothing,” a man's voice answered wearily. Possibly the doctor from the day before, but he didn't open his eyes to verify it. “I examined his back and mixed the proper drug for him. It's weaker than what he normally takes, but it should dull the pain enough without making him so unfocused. You should consider that your telepath is just worn out, Herr Crawford.”

Crawford didn't give a verbal reply, but judging by the sound the doctor made he had clearly made a threatening move. “How did you survive your training at Rosenkreuz having such a soft spot for him?”

“With top grades and the highest recommendations,” Crawford growled.

“So I heard,” the doctor continued in a hushed voice, “there's something interesting about the other redhead.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” the doctor affirmed in an amused whisper. “I ran a few tests, because the way he grew weaker as soon as he was given blood... well, you know what that normally means. I have seen similar results before,” the doctor confided after a pause. “Not in a long while. That man, Herr Crawford, is a chameleon.”

“A what?”

“They're pure, in a way. They can learn to use any Talent. Unfortunately they also seem to be either useless or weak. They could be invincible, if their powers were stronger.”

“I've heard about that, I think,” Crawford said. “They have all talents, but the talents cancel out each other.”

“Ah, that's what everyone thinks. Especially with the Elders only having one each. And the headmaster of Rosenkreuz is probably another support for that. But you and I both know that most successful agents have at least one minor talent. Schuldig is a decent telepath, but he doesn't only pick up coherent thoughts. He picks up emotions and feelings, and that is what makes him a five, and not a three, which is more accurate. He's passably good as a telepath, nothing else.”

“It's because power is still power,” the doctor continued. “You use yours to see the future, but had you been a little different you could have used it for another purpose.”

Schuldig stirred next to Ran. He felt the telepath yawn and stretch, then mumble something in German before relaxing against him again. A ghost of a feeling wrapped around him, then it was gone. In its stead he heard Schuldig in his head, saying “ _this is nice_ ” in perfect Japanese. This link was much smoother than the previous one.

“Schuldig?” Crawford asked worriedly. Ran heard him quickly come closer and opened his eyes to see Schuldig groggily blink a few times.

“What has your tail in a knot?” Schuldig asked in English.

“You've been sleeping for over fourteen hours,” Crawford said flatly. “Did you take anything?”

“Not that I remember. But I don't have a headache anymore, so whatever.”

Crawford removed Schuldig's hair from his face with one hand. “Don't scare me like that.” They were quiet for a long time, almost not breathing. Crawford snapped out of the spell first.

“How are you, Ran?” Crawford asked.

Ran shrugged. “I've been worse. Tired, though.”

“What is up with the tattoo under your foot?” the doctor asked. “I don't see too many of those.”

“What tattoo?” Crawford asked. The doctor grabbed Ran's left ankle and lifted the blanket.

Ran sighed. “I got drunk, woke up and there it was.”

Schuldig snickered. “You?”

“I was a stupid kid once. Hurt like Hell, but I tend to forget I have it.”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

The house he had been taken to was a wooden cabin with two stories out in the middle of nowhere. The dirt track that they had driven up the last few miles was poorly maintained, and while Ran had felt every bump like a hard punch to the gut it had been obvious that the speed was kept low for his sake.

Schuldig was busy telling Brad something that made absolutely no sense to Ran, but he didn't care. They all sat in the small living room while something that had come out of a box cooked in the oven. The kitchen was small, tucked into the front of the house and also served as the front entrance. Ran was certain that he couldn't eat anything without vomiting, so he didn't care about the suspicious smells either.

“Hey, Kitten, your eyes are almost crossing,” Schuldig said suddenly.

Ran shrugged. He felt somewhat like a drained battery. He shouldn't be so tired, but he was.

“It's because you lost a lot of blood,” Schuldig answered his inner musings.

“Talents often get very weak after getting transfusions,” Brad said when Ran looked up at Schuldig with a question mark all over his face.

“He's still short a few units, anyone would be tired. He's not a Talent, Big C. I'm not getting that vibe.”

“I would love to argue the same thing, but the creepy doctor used to work for Rosenkreuz. He picked up on it straight away, and I am not willing to argue too much with doctors trained by Rosenkreuz. The assholes tend to be right about these things.” Brad got up and went into the kitchen.

Ran felt dizzy. It wasn't the topic as much as utter exhaustion. He had seen enough in his time with Kritiker to believe them. And he wasn't sure he cared, he was who he was.

“Listen,” Schuldig said gently to him, “it's not that uncommon. We're just evolution taking a test drive. And it doesn't change anything. You're still you.” Schuldig smiled and patted his shoulder gently.

Ran thought to himself that he was clearly insane. Schuldig was being nice.

“Hey, I can still hear you! There's no on-off switch to this thing unless I shield heavily enough to give myself an aneurism.”

“You know, I will never envy you that.”

“Don't be too sure,” Schuldig smirked. “It has it's sweeter sides. Like knowing all of people's dirty fantasies and fetishes.”

“You should rest,” Brad told Ran. “Come, I'll help you up the stairs and into bed before Schuldig gives you scars for life.”

“Tch, I'm just teasing,” Schuldig complained. “I can behave just fine.”

“Sure,” Brad muttered.

Ran didn't know if it was the fact that he was so tired he could have gladly slept on the floor, but whatever it was, he started laughing softly. “You guys are like an old married couple.”

“Too many years spent together does that,” Brad smiled. He helped Ran stand and made sure he made it to bed safely.

 

* * *

 

When he woke up a few hours later he showered, for no other reason than because he was cold down to the bone and a hot shower usually cured that. As soon as he was done and mostly dressed Schuldig came, barging in with a grin, and started to lead him downstairs. Ran had the suspicion that modesty was something Schuldig had never learned.

Then again, if you knew all the dirty little secrets a person had, what was such a minor thing as the physical space people preferred?

“You don't need to baby me,” Ran complained without any real force behind it. “I can walk a few steps on my own even when I'm in pain.”

“We need to get used to one another anyway, if we're going to be a good team. Might as well start before you're well enough to point that toy sword at me when I step you your toes.”

“Hn.”

“Besides, normally Brad is the only one I can hang out with and still be myself,” Schuldig said with a more serious tone. “It's nice, not having to walk on egg shells all the time.”

Ran presumed the German meant Prodigy and Berserker. They cleared the stairs and ended up in the small kitchen.

“Slept well?” Brad asked from the counter.

“Yeah,” Ran answered.

A mug with something similar to tea in it was held out to him, so he thanked the American and accepted it. It wasn't the taste he preferred, but it was warm and he was starting to shiver again so he drank it all down.

“Cold?” Schuldig asked with a puzzled frown. Brad handed the telepath a mug full of coffee.

“He'll be fine,” Brad assured Schuldig. “But I think we should snuggle up and keep him warm.”

“Huh? Really?” Schuldig asked with the beginnings of a predatory smirk on his lips.

“Yeah, go light the fire.”

Schuldig went away muttering about stupid Americans getting his hopes up. Ran raised an eyebrow.

“Don't worry,” Brad said calmly. The taller man was hiding an amused smile behind a mug. “You won't get hurt, we bark more than we bite. Unless you beg, and if you do it's all good anyway.”

Ran's other eyebrow joined the first. “Hn,” he eventually got out. Then he went to refill his mug. “I don't think Schuldich is the one who will scar me for life.”

“Just telling you how it is,” Brad said softly. Ran couldn't pin if the look in the American's eyes was calculative or apprehensive.

“It's supposed to be said Schul-DIG, by the way,” the German shouted from the living room. “You Asians can't speak consonants properly.”

“German for guilty,” Brad explained. “I just call him Schu. He doesn't answer to much else, the stubborn little shit.”

“I call him Daddy sometimes,” Schuldig shot back, imitating a young child. “He likes that.”

Brad sighed and rolled his eyes. “I'm thrilled. Every time.”

Ran ignored them. It seemed to be the only adult response to their baiting. They both seemed jaded to it, like it was an established pattern.

Schuldig declared that the fire was lit by screaming “fire in the hole!”. Brad gently ushered Ran into the living room with an arm slung over his shoulders. The both of them sat down on the floor with Schuldig. Ran ended up in the middle with Schuldig leaning on him. ' _Touchy, both of them_ ,' Ran thought.

“How long are we camping here anyway?” Schuldig asked. “Do we have marshmallows?”

“No. Not much longer,” Brad answered in reverse order. “How are the migraines? Since you're not begging for painkillers I'm going to guess that you're better.”

“Mm,” Schuldig admitted slowly. “It's weird. It's like sleeping cured it. I don't like being in the middle of nowhere and I'm tired of all the running.”

“Me too,” Brad nodded.

“Running?” Ran asked. It struck him as curious.

“Eszett and Rosenkreuz,” Schuldig muttered. “Eszett took it badly, after the Elders died, but they didn't see us as the biggest threat so we were left alone as long as we stayed mostly under the radar. Rosenkreuz is all Farfarellos fault.”

“He's taken off with a witch from their labs, Sally. I don't know where they are, but they seemed genuinely in love,” Brad elaborated. “Nagi left shortly after that, though he met up with us at Koua.”

“What does Nagi have with Omi?” Ran asked. “He said at Koua that Nagi was a friend.”

“Nagi wanted out,” Brad said hesitantly, “for a long time. He wanted a normal life, with a lover and friends and all that. So, in the end, we let him go.”

Schuldig laughed bitterly. “Yeah. Right.”

“Nagi can look after himself,” Brad shrugged.

“He doesn't have your drive though. He's not a leader. Hey, Ran? How long were you in Kritiker before Weiss?” Schuldig asked.

“About two years,” Ran answered. “I was stationed in Kyoto and Sendai before Tokyo.”

Ran felt unease flow through him at remembering how he had joined, who he had known back then and what they had meant to him.

“Relax,” Brad said. He had a hand on Ran's shoulder.

“I'm not good at relaxing.”

“Yeah, you need to learn though. Most of what we do is work, sure, but we always had a lot of leisure time,” Schuldig muttered. “Comes from not having to pretend to being a gay florist.”

“Telepaths go nuts otherwise,” Brad whispered. “More nuts, at least.”

“I am not crazy, I just don't conform to your ideas of normal,” Schuldig said. “I'll have you headcases know I'm perfectly sane. My head hurts every once in a while, but not because I can't deal with having a huge ass city like Tokyo screaming in my head. It's always physical. If anything will drive me nuts, it'll be being stuck in a cabin with no entertainment.”

Brad sighed. “Perfectly sane.”

“I am.”

“If you say so,” Brad singsonged. He sat his empty cup down on the floor. “We need a new code name for you, Ran.”

“Chaos,” Schuldig said with finality. “His head is a mess.”

“My head is a mess? I find everything I need to,” Ran said. He thought his head was working just fine.

“I can't find anything. I can sneak in just fine, but I have no idea how you organize.”

Ran scoffed. Of course, Schuldig would consider anything he had to work for abnormal.

“Chaos works,” Brad said thoughtfully.

“Of course it does,” Schuldig huffed. “I'm brilliant, after all. And hot.”

“Not as hot as you think you are.”

Ran rolled his eyes.

“Yes, well, you stopped being cool years ago. Thirty is not cool.”

“You do realize what it means though?”

“That you're old?” Schuldig grinned.

“That we've been a team for close to ten years.”

“When is your anniversary?” Ran scoffed. “I should get you flowers.”

“I am officially, you hear that, officially telling you that I fucking hate flowers!” Schuldig growled. His eyes weren't angry, and that was the key.

“Any day is fine,” Brad said with a huff. “Telepaths have a horrible sense of time, he can't tell the weekdays apart, let alone tell you the date when we met.”

“Aren't we going to deny the whole... married... part?” Schuldig asked.

“Not while you're acting like a pissy woman,” Brad laughed. “I'm probably still registered as your adoptive father, so it won't be legally possible even if it was legal for men to marry here.”

“It's stupid. I get Nagi,” Schuldig said indignantly. “But me?”

“You weren't that old, Schu. I had to adopt all three of you, since you were minors. Eszett thought it would be the easiest way to bypass authorities. And if I needed to make medical or school decisions I had the legal power to do it.”

“No, Braddy Boy, seriously. I've been crawling into your bed for a decade and I refuse to be your kid.” Schldig sighed and made an exasperated gesture, then narrowed his eyes. “I heard that thought. You two are not allowed to gang up on me,” he said and pointed between them for emphasis. “Or I will convince both of you that you're toasters.”

“Sure, sure,” Brad smiled. “You get past my shields without me letting you in and I'll let you feed me bread all day long.”

 

* * *

 

Brad followed Ran out when he went for a walk. The surrounding land was a dense pine forest with hills and valleys, and dirt trails that went on for miles.

He liked the area. It was strategic. Easy to slip away if you needed to, close enough to civilization to not be remote and still deserted enough to not have any neighbors. The road access left a lot to be desired, but on foot it was easier to cut though the dense vegetation.

“What's your story anyway?” Ran asked.

“Not much of a story,” Brad said while he looked up at the sky. “Just a kid from Texas who got picked up by Rosenkreuz scouts. They told my parents it was a boarding school, so I got shipped over there with little fuss when I was twelve. I had been through quite a few schools already, since I had a tendency to start fights. Spent about six years there, two for basic training and another three and a half for specialized training. Then I started working under Eszett.”

The trees looked healthy and sturdy. The type of trees city boys never saw. Old behemoths that had survived decades.

“Why?”

Brad smiled. “Why what?”

“You betrayed them. You can see the future. Why work for them at all?”

“Ah, but it's more complicated than that. Rosenkreuz is a part of Eszett. Everyone who got trained there is, in fact, in Eszett's possession. I either work for them, or they shove me into a cell and experiment on me. I hadn't a thought of betraying them back then. I would be very dead if I had.”

They passed an open space, the lack of trees making them both more on edge.

“It was fairly last minute,” Brad continued when they were back in the dense vegetation. “The Elders aren't really missed. Others have stepped up. Or tried to, but Eszett is slowly crumbling.”

“What'll happen when it does?”

“Who knows? That's the beauty of it all, not knowing. Taking a step into the dark, off the cliff and see if your wings are strong enough to carry you.”

Ran snorted.

“That's my story, and I'm sticking to it until Eszett is gone,” Brad said without moving his lips much at all.

Ran shrugged.

“I want you to heal before I send you on anything, but I need a bit of hacking done,” Brad said quietly after a while.

“Fine,” Ran agreed.

“Schuldig and I will go to an old acquaintance tonight. Not friend, mind you, just someone I've met in Eszett a few times. I need to know a few things about his... handler, might be a good word. I'll give you a few files when we get back.”

“Alright.”

 

* * *

 

Ran was puzzled the next morning. He was, begrudgingly, getting used to wake up when Schuldig was sneaking into his bedroom and laying down next to him, but he wasn't used to the soft sobs.

“Hey,” he started hesitantly. There was a wound on Schuldig's shoulder, more of a bruise with a scrape, so he decided to stick to familiar territory. “Did you treat that?”

Schuldig shook his head.

“Alright, stay put,” he ordered and went off to the bathroom. There were enough medical supplies in the shelves to supply a small clinic. When he came back Schuldig was calmer, but it seemed forced. Ran didn't like dealing with emotions, be it his own or other peoples.

“It's not that bad,” Shuldig muttered and poked the edge of the wound.

Ran shrugged. “Did you fight with Crawford?”

“He knows better than to beat me,” Schuldig said with a crooked smile. He took off his clothes.

“I meant the crying,” Ran said softly. He started cleaning the wound.

Schuldig huffed. “I'm not crying.”

“Hn.”

Ran finished with the shoulder and checked the German over, looking for signs of broken bones or soft tissue damage. He mostly found bruised flesh. There wasn't a lot of scars on the lean body, except for the lower back. Schuldig tensed visibly when Ran gently touched a collection of scars that could either be knife wounds... or a whip. It was old, but somehow he knew that it had healed wrong.

“Does it hurt when I touch it?” Ran asked.

“No, not when you're gentle,” Schuldig said quietly. “That's Rosenkreuz logic at it's finest. I didn't respond to the teachers the way they wanted. So, they they made sure I would be in too much pain to function without their drugs.”

“That's sick.”

“It's clever. All they had to do after that was give me a slap in the back and I crumbled down. Mission accomplished.”

“Doesn't pain make you less useful though?”

Schuldig shrugged. “Obedience is worth more to them. Crawford wanted loyalty, obedience came second. That's partly why he could get through to me.”

Ran realized he had idly traced the scars and Schuldig seemed to notice at the same time, because the German shuddered slightly. He looked like it was far from painful. “Why do you keep crawling into bed with me?”

Schuldig laughed. “I sleep better. I normally don't sleep well at all. Do you mind?”

“I should, I'm not very social. No. I don't mind.”

“Brad does,” Schuldig said quietly. “He doesn't want surprises like that. Nearly shot me when I was seventeen.”

“The two of you seem so... used to each other.” Ran had a hard time picturing the two being hostile to each other. He had no problem imagining Brad doing some petty bullying or Schuldig playing tricks, but they seemed too established in their friendship to allow for serious injury.

“Maybe. I've lived with him since I was fifteen. In the end he was the only one who could stand me. The other team leaders survived a week, then they went nuts,” Schuldig smirked. “It's odd. The way you just fit in with us. I didn't expect you to just squeeze in.”

Ran nodded. He hadn't expected to fit in, but he felt relaxed with both Schuldig and Brad in a way he hadn't with his other teams. “It is odd.”

He slowly removed his hands from the multitude of scars on Schuldig's back and put all the supplies away.

 

* * *

 

Johan sat perched on the porch railing as he watched Ran practice with his sword. He seemed content and peaceful, but he held back not to aggravate his injury. Brad was inside with his punching bag.

Normally Johan was religious about working out, but he felt out of it that day. His thoughts sometimes spun at speeds beyond sanity and other times he could barely rub two thoughts together.

The pills should come with a warning label. If he had been forced to drive he would have crashed.

Suddenly something knocked him hard in the back of the head. He blinked twice and realized he had fallen backwards.

Ran was quickly there, checking him for injuries. It was almost like having two Brad around. It was nice. Nagi and Farfarello had never been much help to have around, not if didn't involve computers or knives, respectively.

The kitten was more autonomous. He didn't ask for things, he went and got them. Nagi would have expected Brad to fix everything for him, Farfarello would have expected Johan to be his keeper. Kids.

“I'm fine,” he said, but Ran had already screamed for Brad to come up from the basement. “I'm fine,” he insisted again. “Really it doesn't hurt.”

“God damned foreign languages,” Ran swore quietly.

“What?” Brad came through the door at a run and then stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh Hell.”

Johan's breath quickened at the panic he saw in Brad's eyes. If Brad was scared it was bad.

Ran was talking. Johan heard it, but it didn't compute. What mattered was that Brad, drenched in sweat from working out, was coming closer. He hunched down and warm hands stroked Johan's cheeks. Then the world went dark.

 

* * *

 

Schuldig was too pale against the white sheets. Ran hated looking at unconscious people laying in hospital beds.

Brad was terrorizing the hospital staff. It was amazing they still continued to be professional towards him.

Ran sighed, but he didn't have to be bored with only his memories to keep him company for long.

Schuldig groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Something in German came out of his mouth, but Ran had no idea what it meant.

“I have no idea what you're saying,” he confessed. Schuldig kept talking in German. Ran listened for words he could maybe try to decipher. “No, no idea what that means.”

Then Schuldig quieted. “Brad?”

“Back soon,” Ran soothed. He stroked some hair out of Schuldig's eyes.

He had tried to heal the German. Normally it didn't work, but with Schuldig it did. He couldn't do very much at once since he was too weak at the moment, but every little bit helped. It was interesting to see it work, too, like an experiment going well.

Normally he ended up doing damage instead, so he had spent a good deal ignoring the fact that he could. Just like he ignored the tattoo under his foot.

“You shouldn't take those pills.”

Schuldig answered in German. He grabbed a hold of Ran's arm.

Ran nodded. “Still no idea what that means.”

Brad came rushing in then. He had changed clothes and showered, but only once it had been clear that Schuldig would be out for hours to come. He still looked like Hell.

“Schu?”

Unlike Ran, Brad understood the odd language when the telepath started talking. Schuldig repeated some of the things he had told Ran, but they were still a jumbled mass of foreign sounds.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

“So,” Schuldig said from where he was rummaging the fridge, “we have one large fucked up group of Eszett loonies that we need to kill off. I'm game.”

“We're going to need a little help,” Brad said reluctantly. “I'll recruit someone.”

“Okay,” Schuldig shrugged. He finished a whole bottle of water in under ten seconds. Schuldig ate healthily, but in a way that made it seem like he was doing some seriously heavy drugs. “Temporarily?”

“Yes. I doubt I could get him for anything else than bringing Eszett to ruin. It won't be a local, you mind bunkin' with Schu for a bit, Ran? I know you idiots sleep in the same bed most of the time anyway.”

“As long as you give me a machete.”

“A machete?” Brad parroted, then narrowed his eyes. “I thought you two got along? What did Schuldig do now?”

“Once guilty, always guilty?” Ran asked. “We get along. The point is that his room has its own eco system. I may, or may not, have to fend off wild creatures in there.”

Brad laughed, and Schuldig threw the empty bottle at Ran in a huff. “Hey, it's perfectly safe.”

The plastic bottle had been easy enough to catch, even if Schldig was good at throwing things at a high velocity. He had been in Schuldig's room to wake the German up this morning. How anyone managed to mess up a room that much without the aid of a natural disaster was puzzling. No wonder Schuldig rather crawled into bed with everyone else.

He still wasn't sure how he had survived not being attacked by the dust bunnies.

“Right, and 4chan is appropriate for children,” Brad shot back.

“Asshole,” Schuldig huffed. “I'll clean up the worst of it. But we need some rules.”

“Yeah, like no mind games” Brad muttered, still staring at his phone.

“I'm not doing anything with his head except listening to it. A little faith here? When did I ever fuck over the team?”

“You do NOT want me to answer that. Just play nice while I'm gone. I can't replace either of you,” Brad said.

Schuldig and Ran both nodded.

“I want you two to practice together. You're mostly healed, and the two of you need to be working well together.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Eszett standards, Schu.”

“Fuck me,” Schuldig groaned. “You cannot be serious? You are. Great.”

 

* * *

 

“Can't do that. It's one of those mating rituals I don't understand.” Brad was polishing his glasses. It was a stalling tactic. Johan saw him do it a lot and it rarely had anything to do with his damned glasses. And he was lying. Brad knew about human mating rituals. He was perfectly aware of how society worked.

He was just part sociopath. Not much. Not forced into the mold of one, like himself, but born that way. Brad felt things, had emotions, but he didn't really feel sorry for hurting others. He didn't pity starving children. Violence made him excited, as long as it wasn't directed at those he cared for.

Johan snickered. “It's simple really.”

Brad shrugged.

“It is,” Johan insisted. “Besides. Kitten is straightforward, but not straight. Be nice to him and he will be your toy.”

“I don't want to just fuck him. I want to own him.”

Johan translated that into “ _I want him to love me_ ”.

“Cute. But you're missing a piece of the puzzle. Dogs have owners.”

“I own you.”

“Only because I let you. Don't confuse me with a normal person, Brad.”

“How could I?”

“You could. Empath, remember? I can taste it. Just like I can taste what you feel for me. It's very similar.” Johan paused. “I used to just be useful. Do you remember? You liked that high you got when they praised you for being able to control me. Then you slipped into trust, then familiarity, then friendship, then -”

“Shut up.”

“Love,” Johan finished.

“Shut up.”

“Hm. No.” Johan smirked. “I like you, I like being wanted. I'm comfy.”

Brad looked at him. Brad knew when there was more.

“I'm not normal, Brad. If you want to think you own me, fine, but I am no dog. I choose who owns me. I can be comfy somewhere else.”

“Don't threaten me.”

“I'm not. This is a friendly reminder. I'm reminding you that the apex predator here, is not you. You gave me a name, and I let you call me Johan. I don't mind being given names. It's proof that I am important. You're just forgetting that the creature you call Johan is the creature everyone else call Schuldig.”

“I know that.”

Brad, Brad, Brad. Johan laughed. “No. But you're willing to take your chances that I'm more Johan and less Schuldig.”

“You're not schizo.”

Johan smirked. “But I do hear voices.”

“I'll be gone for a few weeks.”

Johan nodded. “I know. And my shields are shit. Bad timing.”

“We're running out of time.”

“No, Brad, you're running out of telepath. I'm so fucking useless I can barely function. Forget Mastermind, I can barely even keep up with normals. I saw lab rats at Rosenkreuz that were less fucked up than I am now.”

“They expected you to last until you were twenty. Why not prove them wrong for another few years?”

“Why? Fuck you! That's why. I hurt and I'm miserable and you're not helping.”

“Don't -”

“Kill myself? No. Fine. But I make no promises on anything else.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Chaos?” Schuldig asked as they were jogging down one of the trails around the house. Some went on for miles. The German had done that a lot recently. Use the new code name, see if Ran answered, ask a stupid question.

“Yes.” Ran talked a lot more than he used to. It wasn't like the telepath allowed anything else, he made sure to coax him into communicating. Sculdig knew when to back off, when too much was too much, but the German also seemed to need the interaction. Where Ran found being alone relaxing, Schuldig got nervous if no one talked to him for too long.

“Brad has a crush on you.”

“So?”

“You like him. I like him. I like you. You like me. It's a perfect triangle.”

Ran wasn't sure how to respond to that, even though similar suggestions had flown his way often enough recently, so he didn't say anything.

“Don't worry. No pressure.”

Schuldig didn't speak any more for a long while. He just picked up the pace and Ran followed suit. They ran for hours every day; alternating between jogging, running and everything in between. Schuldig took training very seriously. Ran was pretty sure he had never been as fit.

By the time they came back it was always target practice. Then wrestling or martial arts. The first day Ran had barely been able to move when the sun went down. Now that they had been doing it for a week he started to be able to catch up. He adapted fast, he always had.

“You're doing much better,” Schuldig smiled. They were done, at least for the day.

“Thanks,” Ran said.

“Rosenkreuz would have swallowed you whole, though.”

“What is that place like?”

“Evil.” Schuldig chewed on his lower lip for a bit, then quickly licked his lips. “It's like a school, with a research facility. If you can be trained, they train you. If you screw up you end up in the labs below.”

“Do they just train agents?”

“No, most personnel is non-combat. Talents are common, but most are weak. There aren't too many teams out there like Schwarz, but some of the Talents are much stronger than me or Brad. Or Nagi. Though the kid is strong. We're firecrackers compared to the heavy artillery.”

“That's bad.”

“Yes. And no. It's not just about brute strength or raw skill. We beat a much stronger team once. Brad is a sneaky fuck, he'll plan for everything that can go wrong.”

Schuldig paused. “It's not like all of it is bad, all the time, at Rosenkreuz. I was the worst of the students, I think, but they still didn't break me. Brad was one of the best students. They all spoke well of him. They sent me to him a lot, hoping I'd learn from him.”

“Did you?”

“In a way. We struck a deal, because he wanted a spotless record. Failing to guide me would have been seen as a failure. He gave me what I wanted, needed, and in return I would obey him. I was born there, and I never really owned anything, so I was very easy to bribe. He'd tell me to behave for some class or, to be polite, and at the end of the day if I did it he would give me what I asked for.”

Schuldig laughed at a memory. “Though, knowing what I do now I should have asked for a car instead of a hug or to be allowed inside his shields. I had pretty simple ideas on what was important.”

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

The club was not so crowded that it was ridiculous, but it was obviously a popular place. Johan dragged Ran behind him towards the bar. Ran wasn't as socially inept as people assumed, but Johan wanted him to get used to different settings.

After all, the more you did something the more comfortable you were with it.

He grinned at the people who stared at him. Johan knew he looked good no matter what he wore, but dressed up in leather pants and a tight top he could have gone home with any and each one of them.

They reached the bar, he ordered for them then sat on the only free stool. Ran was let go, but he knew the Kitten would stay close to him. Ran wasn't keen on strangers.

“Hey, what's your name?” He heard a guy ask Ran. The guy was nothing special, but he seemed friendly. Johan frowned a little. The Kitten was his.

“Kaito. This is Sebastian.”

New names each time. Ran made them up on the go.

“I'm Brian. You two friends?” The guy had a smile on his face. Johan smirked at the optimism of the sheep that surrounded him. Going to the gym more than once a week did not make you a ten by default.

“Yes,” Ran answered stiffly.

Johan smiled. It was who Ran was. Clipped, rude and focused. He grabbed the two bottles of beer and handed one to Ran. “Don't mind my boyfriend,” Johan said sweetly. One arm snaked around Ran's body to hold him close. “He doesn't go out and socialize much. Once he opens up to people he's really sweet.”

“You guys new in town? I haven't seen you two before... and I tend to remember pretty faces.”

“Yeah,” Johan agreed.

“How'd you meet?”

“At work,” Ran answered.

The best lies have a hint of truth to them.

 

* * *

 

“Brad is coming!” Schuldig suddenly exclaimed in English. His blue eyes sparkled.

They were seated on the floor in front of the old television. The show was some type of garish cartoon. It didn't matter. They had barely crawled out of bed, still in last nights clothes, and raided the fridge for snacks. Cartoons were better than most of the other shows.

“If I wasn't so hung over I'd change clothes,” Ran said. His English was good enough now that people took him for a native.

Going out with Schuldig was usually more work than pleasure. They had killed off a few people, names on a list Brad had given Schuldig before leaving.

Last night had been more for the absolute Hell of it than anything. They were both tired of all the things they normally did. One day was almost identical to any other. It had been Ran's idea, because he found he actually liked goofing around with the German while all the hip club kids stared at them. He never would have thought he could enjoy it, but he did.

“He's used to me, he'll live. He might have kittens over the fact that we now look like twins. It'll be fine though.”

“We look like package deal hookers, Sebastian, not twins.”

Schuldig smirked. “The body glitter does that.”

Ran smiled. “The fact that nudity hides more than these pants do doesn't help either.”

“Thanks for dragging me out,” Schuldig said.

“No worries. I like going out with you.”

“Aw, I'm flattered,” Schuldig exclaimed with a bit of drama. “I thought you'd like Brad better.”

“I do like Brad,” Ran shrugged. “I've always been an introvert, though. He's sort of hard to get casual with.”

“Yeah, you guys talk past each other a lot. I have never had black hair before,” Schuldig confessed.

“Anything is better than the neon pink from last week.”

“My artistic side loved you in pink hair. Went so well with those pretty eyes of yours.”

A car stopped outside. Schuldig hopped up to look out the window, then plopped down next to Ran again. “Brad. And Hidaka.”

“Oh fuck. He's going to flip.”

“You can still go change,” Schuldig offered in a friendly tone.

Ran shrugged. “I must have spent too much time with you. I actually want to see his face when it clicks.”

Schuldig laughed and rested his head on Ran's shoulder. “I have not messed with your head at all, remember that! This is all you. Hm. 'Chaos' indeed.”

The door opened and they could hear Brad talk to a muttering Ken. Ran figured there would be a formal introduction so he just focused on the cartoon. He was too hung over and tired to fake enthusiasm anyway.

He looked up when he saw Brad in the doorway, and apparently the mighty Oracle had not foreseen this, because he looked stunned. If not completely shocked.

“Hey,” Ran greeted in English with the lazy smile he had practiced and perfected for the nightlife outings.

“We missed you!” Schuldig singsonged. His voice was full of over-excitement, his arms snaking over Ran's body as if to reinforce that they looked like 'two for the price of one'.

Brad nodded in a dazed sort of way and moved into the room enough to lean against a wall. Ken came into the small living room and briefly nodded towards them by way of greeting.

“What the Hell happened here while I was gone?” Brad asked quietly.

“Everything is according to plan, we got wasted last night to have some fun though. You should have been there, Brad. We owned that club,” Schuldig finally gave in to his need to move and bounced up enough to snag an apple from the coffee table.

“Sebastian is worse than a drill sergeant,” Ran said.

“Who is Sebastian?”

“Duh! Me, of course,” Schuldig drawled. He loudly bit into his apple.

Ken looked amused, but there was no real spark of recognition in his eyes. “I thought you would have your normal crazy gang?” he asked Brad in Japanese.

Brad seemed to have snapped out of whatever he was suffering from, and his eyes narrowed. “No, we made some changes. Schuldig is the one eating an apple.”

“Schuldich? You look different,” Ken blurted out.

“Prettier, you mean?” Schuldig had an evil grin plastered on his face. He held his half-eaten apple while he watched Ken like a starving wolf watched a lazy deer.

“Yes, quite,” Brad agreed from old habit. “The other one used to be your team leader. I'm sure you remember him.”

Ran nodded to Ken in acknowledgment. It looked like it might go smooth, for all of two seconds, then Ken apparently found two functioning brain cells and made the connection. He turned to Brad with a murderous look. “What did you do to him? Did you bring me here to gloat?”

It would have been entertaining to sob and make up some story, a thought that made Schuldig howl with laughter, but Ran didn't. Mostly because Brad looked about ready to kill someone. Ran wasn't sure if he or Schuldig was more likely to get murdered first.

“Ken, I'm fine,” he said in Japanese. “I swear.”

“Can I talk to you? Alone?” Ken snapped.

Ran shrugged and got up. His head objected vehemently, but he endured it with just a slight wince. Ken stormed outside and he followed, hoping he wasn't about to get beat up.

“Not even Yoji would wear that,” Ken almost screamed once they were outside. “And why would you join those two?”

“They asked, I accepted.”

“That's it?”

“Basically.”

“No voodoo or mind control?”

“No. And you're here as well, so don't give me that crap.”

“OK. Fair enough. Why are you looking like this?”

“I've had more outrageous outfits while working for Kritiker. Weiss might have been tame, but before that I did a lot of random things for them.”

“Aya, this is Schwarz we're talking about. Schuldich is the guy who made Sakura shoot you. They -”

“I remember, thanks,” Ran cut him off.

“Then why join them? Why didn't you stay with Kritiker if you wanted to be in a team?”

“It wasn't an option. You know that.”

The argument went on, mostly in circles, and by the time Ken gave in Ran was thoroughly done with the topic. His headache made him irritable and snappish, and despite being glad to see his former teammate he just wanted to go back to lazily watching television with Schuldig.

The world was officially insane. Or maybe it was just him.

When they returned inside Ken went off to sulk. Ran started making coffee. While the brewer puttered away merrily he went to the living room. Brad looked annoyed, Schuldig huffy and Ran could tell they were talking even if their lips didn't move.

“Coffee?”

Brad nodded. “We need to talk.”

“As long as we can do it indoors, I'm freezing.”

Both of them followed him into the kitchen. Schuldig sat down by the table with him and sighed.

“You okay?” Brad asked him quietly. The American took out three mugs and sat them on the counter.

Ran shrugged. “Head hurts and I'm cold.”

Schuldig snickered. “I can warm you up.”

“We need to plan,” Brad said sharply. “But before we do anything the two of you will change clothes.”

“Don't be so boring, Brad.” Schuldig yawned.

“I can be every bit as boring as I like,” Brad muttered, “Sebastian.”

Ran rose and poured the coffee. “You're cranky today. How was the trip, anyway?”

“Absolute Hell,” Brad sighed and collapsed into a chair with his mug. “If I don't get to kill something soon I may very well go nuts.”

Schuldig patted Brad on the shoulder. Ran sat a mug in front of Schuldig and then sat down with his own.

“I met with Nagi, he was acting different. Skittish.”

“Maybe he knows you don't like his boyfriend?” Schuldig shrugged. “Maybe his boyfriend is beating him?”

Brad shook his head. “No, I don't think so. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Why are you dressed like whores?”

“Told you already,” Schuldig said with an eye roll. “You keep staring so I'm going to assume you're just pissy today.”

“When was the last time you slept?”

Brad looked at Ran with a puzzled frown. “Three days ago?”

Schuldig snickered. “I take it you don't trust Hidaka then?”

Brad shook his head. He finished his coffee and poured another cup. “We need to finish planning the next hit. We have today and most of tomorrow, but tomorrow night we need to get it done.”

 

* * *

 

Waking up in Schuldig's bed was odd. He did it every day, but it was still odd. For one thing, the colors the German insisted on didn't always match. What mattered was that they were colorful. The sheets were the type of pink that likely glowed in the dark all on its own. The pillowcases were jewel red and clashed horribly. That was probably done on purpose, too. The duvet covers could either have come out of a children's store or a pedophile's van. It was an even draw on which was more likely.

Since he had moved in the clutter had decreased, and Schuldig made an effort to keep the room clean.

The main oddity with waking up in Schuldig's bed was that even though they always went to bed on separate sides like good little boys, somehow they always ended up looking like they had just finished fucking each other seven ways into next week.

And last night Brad had gone to sleep next to them. Ran didn't particularly care who slept where, but now that he was awake because Ken was screaming at them from the doorway he could appreciate that maybe this was not a good start.

“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Brad growled from his right. “Shut up before I shoot you.”

“Grow up, Hidaka,” Schuldig snarled from the other side. Ran stopped him before he reached for the gun he kept hidden in the bed. He could see that Ken was just a second away from running off anyway. Being in the middle was so much fun.

Brad muttered a few more curses from where he was sitting up. Ken didn't run, but he walked away with a string of curses of his own.

Schuldig let out an irritated scream at nothing in particular.

“Calm down, Schu,” Brad sighed, then turned to Ran. “I knew the Universe would punish me for you joining so easily.”

Ran smiled. “Serves you right you smug bastard.” He wrapped his arms around Brad and dragged the heavier man down into the bed. Where Schuldig and himself were lean, Brad had thicker muscles and a bit more fat on him. Still, it wasn't uncomfortable to have him lying on top.

They had only slept four hours, top, and damned if he was getting up yet.

“How does the idiot not notice we're all dressed?” Schuldig muttered. Though, Ran knew that 'dressed' in Schuldig's dictionary meant anything from wearing one sock to being fully clothed.

“Ken doesn't notice unimportant little details like that. He's a soldier, nothing else,” Ran said with a shake of his head.

Brad sighed again and finally relaxed into Ran's hold. “Well, at least he'll have it out of his system before we have to go on the mission. We need to pack up our stuff and put it in storage.”

“Right, after we sleep a few more hours,” Ran agreed.

Brad nodded. “Right.”

Schuldig climbed over them and snuggled up next to Brad.

“I could get used to this,” Brad leered.

“Mm, think of all the money you could save if we just have one bed for all three of us,” Schuldig yawned.

 

* * *

 

When they finally got up Schuldig realized he had missed too many meals and demanded that they should eat. Unfortunately, the juice came in a box. Ran had no idea what mysterious events had led up to this, but apparently Schuldig had never learned how to open a Tetra.

“I need an adult,” Schuldig whined loudly. That, or Schuldig was the biggest attention whore on the planet. Neither would be too far fetched.

Since Ran was busy cooking omelets Brad walked over to him and opened the container. Ken walked into the kitchen and sat down just as Schuldig happily said “thank you, Daddy”.

“Want some toast, Schu?” Brad asked with a smile.

Schuldig said something in German. Ran understood the word for “no”, but that was all.

“Wait,” Ken rubbed his eyes, “is he actually your kid?”

“You don't see the resemblance?” Brad asked like it was obvious.

Ken looked like his brain was about to melt. “You sleep together.”

“He has nightmares,” Ran said with a nod towards Schuldig. If they wanted to play, fine. It was true anyway, Schuldig when Brad was far away was a complete mess during the nights. “Want food Ken?”

“No, I ate a few hours ago,” Ken answered Ran. “You can not be that old,” he then told Brad. “And he can't be that young, either.”

Brad just snorted.

“There is just no way,” Ken maintained.

Ran finished cooking and sat the plates on the table. Brad sidled up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

“I am not watching this,” Ken muttered and stalked out.

Schuldig managed to grin and eat at the same time. “He's not sure whether we brainwashed Ran, or if Ran is the bad guy, or if we're just messing with him,” the telepath said between bites.

Brad shrugged and focused on his food.

“Don't like him?” Schuldig asked.

“No,” Brad said. “I don't.”

“Why is he here then?” Ran asked with a tinge or irritation in his voice.

“I don't have to like him to work with him,” Brad said cautiously.

Ran nodded. “Expendable, then?”

“He'll live,” Brad said slowly.

Ran realized then, that they were being careful of him again. They would happily throw Ken to the wolves, but somehow he himself mattered. It was an awkward feeling. “I'll remind you of that when he runs headlong into a wall and knocks himself out cold two minutes before he's supposed to kill someone.”

Schuldig snickered. Brad groaned.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

The night air was chilly to the point of being freezing. Brad had gone to confront a Talent who had been on the same level as himself. Schuldig was off to another part of the building with one of the other Talents. Ken was tasked with setting a few bombs.

Ran was creeping around the outside with Ken, killing the guards one by one with as little noise as he could. It was one of those motorcycle clubs on the outside, an easy way to get hired muscle.

“This is different,” Ken whispered.

“Quiet,” Ran mouthed to him.

They had been at the location for almost a quarter of an hour. Ran suddenly felt Schuldig nudge his mind, giving him the layout of the house and a push to hurry. No real words, just visual impressions and feelings.

Ken didn't bother to react when Ran took off, which was a small blessing. The house had more guards, and for once Ran didn't miss having a sword. There was something to be said for ranged weapons and silencers.

He shot a man in a room down the corridor and heard a crash. When he got there a bruised Schuldig dusted his clothes off. “Thanks. I have no idea how you get past shields like that, but fuck it. Go get Oracle, I need to hack a living database. They're all hostile.”

Ran nodded once and went in the opposite direction from the one Schuldig took. He didn't know what the German had meant about shields, but he figured he could ask later. He slowed when he heard voices and made his feet barely touch the floor.

Brad was arguing with a female who kept throwing insults at him. He was physically held back by two guards. Ran shot the woman before she saw him. Brad easily broke free from the guards, but Ran shot them to speed things up. “We need to go.”

“Where's Mastermind?”

“Went to hack a database. Or something.”

“Should only be a few minutes then,” Brad muttered. Ran noticed a nasty bruise on his temple. The man was moving and didn't look dazed, so he dismissed it in favor of getting a full magazine into his gun.

Brad had uncanny ability to get through even when he was injured. Whatever training he had undergone in Germany had made him tough.

The police arrived just as they exited the building. The officers stormed into the building, clumsily just using the front and missing them, so Ran grabbed Brad and took off for the mostly abandoned police cars. They had come on foot, but he felt the need to leave quickly.

Ran got behind the wheel of the police cruiser nearest to them. Brad jumped into the passenger seat. “I hope to Hell you know how to turn off the noise,” the American snarled.

Ran turned off the siren, but a loud explosion followed quickly.

“That was too early,” Brad said quietly.

“Guilty ones in the back,” Ran screamed at Schuldig who didn't notice them at first. He had worried the telepath had been caught up in the explosion.

Brad barely hid a nervous laugh while Schuldig got into the car. Ran sped off. He saw Ken take off on a stolen motorcycle. Typical of Ken to go for one.

“These things are seriously uncomfortable,” Schuldig complained softly.

“Never been in the back of one.” Ran navigated through the narrow alleys and streets for a good twenty minutes before they broke out of the city proper and ended up on a poorly maintained highway.

“We need to ditch the car,” Ran said. “They can track it from the police station. Even if the confusion with the explosion got us some time.”

“We need to get further away,” Brad said sharply. “And quick.”

“Can you have Ken steal a car and get in front of us?” Ran asked Schuldig.

“Ooh, good idea!” Schuldig mumbled with muffled excitement. Ran reacted to the change. The telepath held himself stiffly, like he was wounded.

When Schuldig bluntly nudged his mind as an Audi overtook them Ran signaled with the lights. The Audi pulled over smoothly in front of them.

“Let me out, I've done my penance,” Schuldig said meekly.

Ran exited the car and opened the door for Schuldig on his way to the trunk. He got out the first aid kit and tossed it to Schuldig who barely caught it.

Meanwhile Brad had taken Ken's spot behind the wheel and Ken had flopped down in the passenger seat.

“Today,” Brad yelled at the two remaining assassins.

Schuldig and Ran both got in the car at the same time a short minute later. While Brad pulled out onto the highway the police cruiser quickly became a bonfire.

“Oh,” Brad said with a pleased smile. When Ran started examining a wound on Schuldig's hip he amended that to: “Oh fucking Hell, don't tell me you got shot!”

“It's clean,” Ran said, “just grazed him, but it's a little deep so I'll have to stitch it up.”

“How about NO,” Schuldig said, “drop me off at a hospital.”

“No time,” Brad said firmly. “Stitch him. And stop whining, Schuldig, you've had worse.”

“You should have said something straight away,” Ran muttered. “You're bleeding all over the place.”

“Do you have a needle in that kit or should we raid a pharmacy at gunpoint?” Brad asked.

“He carries that,” Ken muttered. “Omi fainted when he stitched a cut on himself once.”

“I always thought that he fainted because I licked the blood off the wound so I could see,” Ran mumbled thoughtfully. “Leather isn't good for wiping things off. I need more light, and someone may have to hold him. We don't have anything stronger than ibuprofen.”

He left out saying that the other members of Weiss rarely cared if he got hurt, so he had learned to rely on his own skills.

“Stop the goddamned car, Brad. Or take me to a hospital. Honestly, I prefer the latter.” Ran felt Schuldig's mind cling almost painfully to his own, to keep a link open.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Schuldig nodded and took Ran's hands and placed them on his ribs. “Probably nothing broken,” Ran muttered as he felt the ribs under Schuldig's shirt. He used a knife to cut the shirt off so he could see. “Nasty bruises though.”

“Ken, I'm pulling over. Lean back and hold Schuldig down if you have to while Ran does the stitching,” Brad ordered. The doors locked with a pop before the car started to slow down. “Ran, it's just fractures and bruises.”

“I'm going to wrap you chest, the left is worse, right?”

Schuldig nodded slowly, Brad's words had eased him a lot, but he seemed to have lost the ability to talk. Maybe it was because he was a telepath, maybe words weren't his natural means of communicating. There sure were enough things flowing through the link at him.

“I'll take this off as soon as we stop to rest,” Ran said as he wrapped tightly. “If you can't breathe you have to let me know.” He turned to Ken: “Hold him.”

“Why?”

“Because holding yourself still while someone inflicts pain on you is worse than fighting restraints. Now, are you going to hold him down?”

“Oh, I'll do it,” Brad said with a glare in Ken's direction.

Schuldig cooperated when Ran moved him into a better position even though his eyes were too wide and his breathing was a little on the shallow side. Ran twisted a leather glove and Schuldig obediently bit down on it.

“Scream if you want, that was so you don't bite your tongue. Sorry, but this will hurt,” Ran offered as a warning before cleaning the graze wound. The stitching was over quickly. Ran had a flat package with a needle and thread already attached in his pant pocket like Ken had predicted. Using that, a small hemostat and tweezers from the first aid kit, the wound was neatly stitched in a matter of minutes. Schuldig didn't make a sound throughout, but his jaws were tense.

“They're absorbent,” Ran explained to Schuldig while bandaging. “Keep it clean and you'll be fine.”

“Did you go to med school while I wasn't looking?” Brad asked. He let go of Schuldig.

Ken rolled his eyes. “Nah, he's just being Aya.”

“I know who he is,” Brad said curtly.

“I mean that he just picks things up, he's smart like that,” Ken clarified.

In the back seat Ran helped Schuldig get into a position that didn't hurt his ribs, the graze wound, or any of the numerous bruises. “Drive slow and avoid pot holes,” Ran told Brad, “he can't really use a seat belt and I don't think we should jostle him much more tonight if we can avoid it.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Schuldig said something to Brad in German, which made the American sigh tiredly and lean over the steering wheel. Then he cursed in his native language, unlocked the doors and got out.

“Ran, drive for a bit. North, avoid the cities. Stick to the speed limits.”

Ran nodded and climbed through the car into the driver's seat. Brad sat down in the back and pulled Schuldig into his lap. When they had settled Ran started the car and slowly accelerated.

“What's wrong with him?” Ken asked.

“He has no shields, they crash when he does,” Brad answered. “Which means he can't keep everyone's thoughts out of his head.”

“Ken, try to sleep or something, they'll need to focus,” Ran said. “We need to be quiet.”

Ken huffed and crossed his arms, but thankfully he didn't talk anymore.

 

* * *

 

They had ended up in a drafty one room apartment devoid of most furniture – after changing cars twice more and having spent the night traveling. The forty minutes they had been there Ran had spent checking the place out and checking his watch. It was late morning and the sunshine seemed brutally cheerful. He had ended up driving the whole time, Ken had sulked next to him.

Brad had started giving directions the last hour of the trip. Ran had been halfway inclined to just pull over at a motel and then ditch the car.

Schuldig was resting, but not sleeping, on a mattress on the floor. He looked pale. Ran was a bit worried about internal bleeding, some of the bruising was standing out vividly against the white skin.

Brad was sitting in a corner meditating, or using his gift. He was absolutely still, the only real movements he made were to breathe. Unlike Schuldig, Brad had a calm and steady pattern to his breathing.

Ken was sleeping on a mattress far away from the rest of them. He was lightly snoring and looked less exhausted than everyone else, but Ran preferred Ken quiet just now. If not permanently.

“Ran,” Schuldig mumbled in an out-of-breath voice, “get some rest.”

“Soon. The store around the corner had a sign saying they open at nine, so in another ten minutes. I'll see if they have water and food. You need painkillers too, but I didn't see a pharmacy when we got here.”

“Let Brad fix it,” Schuldig said and licked his lips.

“He hasn't moved at all since we got here.”

“Yeah. Good point. Lay low, okay?” Schuldig licked his lips again.

“Yeah,” Ran nodded. He took off the leather coat and placed it gently over Schuldig. “Your nails are blue.”

Schuldig nodded and his eyelids seemed heavy, but they never stayed close for long. Ran got up and left. The rest of his outfit was nondescript enough to pass for everyday clothing. The air was chilly even with the warm rays from the sun. There were people milling about, but no one struck him as suspicious.

He had cash and a knife on him, but they were low on bullets and he had left the remaining ones with Schuldig.

The store was small enough that he didn't have to search for anything. Water was the most important thing, neither of them had taken in liquids in a long time by now.

“Hey, do you carry any painkillers?” he asked the clerk in English.

“Yeah, whatcha want?” The chubby girl pointed towards a cabinet behind her.

Ran asked for the strongest they had and loaded his goods up on the counter so she could ring him up.

Nothing suspicious happened on his walk back to the others. They were all exactly as he had left them. Brad seemed to be more aware of what went on around him, but not enough to move more than his eyes. Ran placed a bottle of water and a pack of painkillers close to him and left the bag in the middle of the room.

Since Schuldig was still awake, Ran helped him sit up and made him swallow a few pills of both ibuprofen and paracetamol with water.

“Don't make me lie down again, it hurts like hell to get up and down,” Schuldig said.

“Okay. Shower?”

“Want to rub your hands all over me?” Schuldig leered. It was a weak cousin of it's normal self, but at least he was well enough to try.

“Yes, with antiseptic soap,” Ran deadpanned.

“Tche, boring.”

Ran didn't comment. He helped the German into the bathroom and stepped under the lukewarm water with him. He didn't trust the tap water for drinking, even though it was probably fine, but they both needed to get clean.

It took less than thirty minutes to be in and out of the bathroom, most of that time having been spent checking Schuldig's wounds and washing their clothes while Schuldig tried to sleep standing up. They walked out naked, wrapped in towels that for some reason had been stocked in the apartment. It was odd. There were towels, but no first aid kit. No clothes or blankets, but mattresses.

No Kritiker safe house would be set up this way.

“ _It's not an active safe house_ ,” Schuldig explained. “ _Eszett had just started out in America when you guys brought down the schools. Then they just left, but some operatives stayed behind._ ”

“Okay,” he told Schuldig softly, “I'm going to help you sit, so work with me.”

Schuldig winced the entire time, but ended up sitting on the mattress with his back to the wall.

“You need to sleep,” Schuldig scolded him.

“Well, so do you,” Brad said. Ran looked over to the American.

“Brad?” Schuldig sounded relieved.

Brad winced slightly as he rose, but not when he sat down again on the other side of Schuldig. “We're safe for right now. Lie down, Schu. You'll be okay.”

“How's the head?” Ran asked softly.

“I'll live, it's just pain,” Brad said while he helped Schuldig lie on the mattress. “Thanks for taking care of supplies.”

Ran shrugged and moved out of the way. It wasn't such a big deal. “No problem.”

Schuldig muttered something in German. Brad answered softly in the same language, it sounded like an objection, but he could just as well have rattled off a shopping list for all Ran understood of the language.

Whatever it was Schuldig wanted he insisted on it, in a whiny voice and with a pout.

Brad met Ran's eyes. “Lie down next to him, just be careful,” he said with a smile.

Ran did, Brad picked up his coat from where Schuldig had put it and laid over him. He then covered Schuldig in two large towels. Only when they were both taken care of did he lay down on the other side of the German. Ran couldn’t fall asleep immediately. He was dead tired, but he was also a little too on edge.

Brad reached across Schuldig and moved a wet strand of hair from his face. “Trust me,” he said in Japanese. “It's safe here, get some sleep.”

Ran nodded, feeling oddly reassured. Schuldig's breathing had evened out and that reassured him further. Ran closed his eyes slowly.

 

* * *

 

He was woken up by Brad cursing at Ken. He wasn't loud, but there was an icy venom in his voice that had Ken flinching and made Ran glad he wasn't on the receiving end of it. For someone who wasn't a native Japanese, Brad sure knew his way around the language and the finer subtleties of what was culturally acceptable.

His taunting when Weiss and Schwarz had fought had not been this bad. He had seemed more amused by them than anything else.

The sun was setting. Ran was hungry and thirsty, but he ignored what his body was feeling to check on Schuldig first. The German was asleep and looked better, but the bandage over the stitch needed to be changed. He quickly removed the old bandage, cleaned the wound and applied a fresh pad.

It was pleasantly warm from the sunlight that had filled the apartment all day, so he left his coat on Schuldig and went to the bathroom naked.

Their clothes were dry. He put his own back on and carried the others out to where Schuldig was still sleeping. He grabbed a water bottle and drank some of it.

Ken and Brad seemed done with their argument. “I'll go,” Brad said before Ran could suggest that one of them go out to pick up some dinner.

“Be careful,” Ran urged and laid a hand on Brad's shoulder before he could think twice about it.

The American smiled at him. “I will.” Ran felt strong fingers under his chin, tilting his head up. Lips were pressed to his, the kiss was lazy more than hungry. It wasn't romance, it wasn't a flutter of a butterfly's wings. But it was more than lust. Their bodies molded against each other, Ran felt Brad wrap arms around him and he responded in kind.

A tongue pressed between his lips and he allowed it. Being the shorter one was different, Ran noted. The way he had to reach up a little was not something he was used to. Brad bit his lower lip hard, then kissed him again. He tasted blood, but it wasn't a bad thing. Ran pressed his body closer, kissed back a little harder.

Eventually they pulled apart and Brad left. Ken looked up to give him a look of disapproval. Ran raised an eyebrow, but Ken wasn't interested in talking to him. Just as well. Ran had a feeling Ken had a bigger issue with his sexuality than with his choice in teams.

He sat down on the floor and cleaned their firearms instead. One at a time, going slow to drag the time out. When he was done he counted what little ammo they had left. Not enough.

His lip throbbed and ached, which made him think about the kiss more than he should. Brad probably counted on that. That smugness and arrogance didn't come from an empty head full of hot air. He was dangerous and he knew how to play.

Schuldig eventually stirred and slowly got up on his own. He found the painkillers, a full water bottle and seemingly chose a number of pills at random.

“Feeling better?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Schuldig answered in his head. Ken was watching them with a puzzled look. “ _What happened to your lip?_ ”

Ran thought about what had happened before and Schuldig grinned. “Can you teach me some German?” Ran asked out loud. “It would help if I knew what you say half of the time.”

Schuldig snickered. “Sure, but later. Brad's coming.”

The door opened shortly after. Brad came inside carrying enough bags to feed a family of ten. They sat down in a circle on the floor to eat. Schuldig snuggled up to Brad, but didn't eat much.

“Why are we holed up here?” Ken asked.

“Because we did what we set out to do in this country, now we wait for Schuldig to heal before we move on,” Brad answered curtly.

“That'll take weeks,” Ken muttered.

“More like days,” Ran said slowly. He wasn't about to admit anything to Ken, but Brad would get the hint.

Brad nodded with a speculative look in his eyes. “You'll need to eat more. You need the energy,” he said.

Ran nodded that he understood.

“What, you guys heal faster?” Ken asked.

“Something like that,” Brad said coldly. His eyes softened when he fed Schuldig a few pieces of his food.

Ran cleaned up his trash and sat back down.

“I'll sleep in the kitchen tonight,” Ken said while he cleaned up after himself.

Brad shrugged. While Ken moved some stuff into the small kitchen he fed Schuldig a few more bites. The door between the rooms closed.

“He's such an asshole,” Schuldig muttered quietly. “You should hear his thoughts.”

“Come,” Brad said to Ran with a wave. “Sit with us.”

Ran scooted over.

“Can you control it? The healing?” Brad asked in a whisper.

Ran shrugged. “Yes. It's mostly intuitive, but it won't always work. It seems to depend on who it is.”

“It's sort of fitting that you have a gift like that,” he whispered. He stroked Ran's cheek. “Keep quiet about it, though.”

“Yeah, there are loads of idiots who'd take advantage,” Schudig muttered. “Like me!”

Ran smiled. “Probably because I never actually touch other people? It takes a while to start it, that's why it's easier to just let it work on itself while I sleep...”

“Did it work on your sister?”

“No. Most of the time it goes in the opposite direction. If I focus and try, I usually take from them instead. People would say I was cold to touch when I was younger. I figure it's like metal leading the heat away.”

Brad nodded slowly. “Different people have different energies, it works a bit like magnetic fields.”

Ran shook his head because it didn't make sense to him. “It's not just two poles though.”

“No,” Brad agreed.

“He has to recharge somehow.”

“Normally not,” Brad said softly. “Food is energy. I don't know a whole lot about it, but I remember that Rosenkreuz never managed to figure out how it worked. It's for the better too.”

 

* * *

 

“Which airport is this?” Schuldig asked, directing the question at no one in particular. The German was leaning against the glass wall of a souvenir shop. Brad had shaken him awake along with the rest of them when the plane had landed and all but dragged them to where they now stood.

“No idea,” Ran muttered. He handed Schuldig a cup of coffee in a paper mug with a plastic lid. Airports all looked the same. It was the fifth one this week. If Brad had any intention of telling them why they were currently living on airplanes he hadn't acted on it yet.

“Uh, England? Some signs are English,” Ken mused. He was drinking a blue sports drink from a plastic bottle.

Ran sighed into his own coffee, but didn't comment. Schuldig smacked Ken on the back of the head.

Ken got along better with them, but there were times when only Brad's insistence that he was needed kept the boy out of harms way.

“I keep hearing French,” Ran said. France had been a colonial power, though. They could be in Africa, for all he knew.

“Brad! Where are we?” Schuldig screamed as soon as Brad was back within hearing distance.

“France. Why?” Brad was terse and looked annoyed.

Schuldig swapped to French, speaking quickly and easily. Brad seemingly ignored him, handing out plane tickets to all of them.

“No,” he told Schuldig when the other man quieted. “We leave in half an hour.”

“Boring,” Schuldig sighed.

Ran looked at the ticket he had been given. “Germany?”

Schuldig groaned. “Oh dear, going into the dragon's cave, huh?”

Brad cleaned his glasses before answering. “Eventually. It's a short trip, then we're checking into a hotel.”

“Oh GOD, really?!” Schuldig burst out. He finished his coffee and threw the cup into the nearest trash can with perfect aim. “I get to sleep in a real bed? In a box that's not flying?”

“Yes, and you'll get proper German food, now shut up and move.” Brad started walking briskly and didn't turn to see if they followed. He probably knew they would already.

“Food?” Schuldig whispered longingly as he trailed after the American. “Some days I think I love you, Brad.”

Ran picked up his bag and followed them. Ken looked confused for a bit, then ran up to him. It occurred to Ran then, that they had been speaking French since Schuldig had switched to the language. “We're gonna get on the next plane to Germany,” he explained to Ken in Japanese.

“I don't think I like Germans,” Ken muttered.

“You sure? They play soccer there.”

“Schuldig is German.”

“Yeah, no. I'm technically Austrian,” Schuldig cut in. “I just have German citizenship.”

“Like Hitler,” Ken pointed out.

“Someone's grumpy today,” Schuldig huffed.

“Have you been to München before?” Ran changed the topic.

“Yes, Schwarz used to have our base there.”

“We're not staying long in München,” Brad said. “We'll set up in a small town close to the border.”

“NOT a boat this time.”

“No, Schuldig,” Brad sighed. “Not a boat.”

 

* * *

 

They arrived in Germany safely, got to the hotel without problems, but that was where the smooth plans crashed. Or, to be specific, Schuldig crashed as soon as Ken was in his own room and the three of them were alone.

“I think we should sleep with him tonight,” Ran said, nodding his head towards where Schuldig was curled up into a sobbing ball of misery in the corner of the hotel room.

Brad nodded. “I only rented two rooms.”

“Do you ever get tired of knowing everything?”

“Irrelevant, since I don't have a choice.” Brad disappeared into the bathroom with Schuldig's bag.

Ran helped Schuldig up and herded him to the bed. The only bed. “Come on,” he coaxed. “We're all tired and cranky, let's not make this worse than it is.”

“Where's Brad?” Schuldig asked looking around.

“Bathroom,” Brad called out. “Did you throw out your medicines?”

“No,” Schuldig bit his lip. “I just never refilled them.”

“What medicines?” Ran asked. “I can go out and get some.”

“No, you can't. Not unless we want everyone to know we're here.” Brad came back and rummaged through his own bag. “Well, stabilizers are a no go.”

“It's not that bad,” Schuldig tried to placate, “really.”

“Stabilizers?” Ran asked.

“Telepaths are usually mentally unstable, empaths are normally nervous wrecks. Those with both talents tend to crash and burn rather spectacularly. So, Eszett cooked up some drugs to help.”

“Just let me sleep and we'll figure something out tomorrow. It's late anyway.” Schuldig chewed his bottom lip harshly.

“I haven't seen you take pills at all,” Ran said.

“What?” Brad nearly shouted. He looked incredulously at Schuldig's hunched form.

Schuldig just laughed nervously and went into the bathroom. The shower turned on. Ran looked at Brad in time to see the confusion fade into concern.

“Houston, we have a problem,” Brad muttered.

Ran crossed his arms over his chest. “How bad is it?”

Brad looked at him with an appraising gaze. “It might not be bad.”

“You think I'm holding him together? How can I do that when I don't even have an idea of what I'm doing?”

“Yes. Your instincts are usually spot on. You might not know the details, but you can use it just fine. It's just like how you can use your hands without knowing how the bones connect to each other. Normally Schu would be a wreck after two days. If he hasn't taken them for as long as I think... then I might have to reevaluate him. If he can function on just painkillers -”

“He's not taking those either.”

Brad mouthed a silent “ _oh fuck_ ”. “Well, I didn't see that coming.”

“Hn.” Ran shrugged. “I healed the back wound.”

Brad pulled him into an embrace and held him for a long while. “Don't feel forced to do it,” Brad whispered softly.

“I don't. I don't even do anything that often.”

Brad nodded. “Good, because I know damned well how needy Schu can be when he knows he can get away with it.”

Ran unpacked what he needed and picked up a book while Schuldig and Brad took turns showering. The bathroom wasn't huge, but it did it's job. Like always, he was then done before either of them had managed to do anything useful once he got in. Brad wasn't as bad as Schuldig, but he was nowhere near Ran's ten minutes. If he didn't need to shave, fix his hair, bandage anything, or put on make up, why take longer than that?

When he walked into the main room Brad was leaning against the headboard and checking his phone while Schuldig sat in the middle of the bed staring in Ran's direction, but not really seeing anything.

“Schu?” Ran asked.

“Shields are pretty much shot to Hell, so I'll space out a bit until I've fixed them,” Schuldig shrugged. He climbed under the covers and held them up for Ran to do the same.

“You're pretty high maintenance, huh?” Ran joked as he laid down.

“You have no idea,” Brad mumbled.

“Hey, YOU wanted a telepath, so deal with it,” Schuldig huffed.

Brad reached over with one hand and put in on Schuldig's back. “It's not about not wanting you.”

“You guys are so cute,” Ran said with a shake of his head.

Schuldig sighed. “We're awesome.”

Brad hummed noncommittally and put the phone and his glasses on the nightstand before getting under the covers. The bed was big enough for all three of them to have space to sleep without bumping into each other, but Ran knew that come morning they'd likely be on opposite ends compared to where they fell asleep.

As if to confirm this, Schuldig grabbed him and flipped them over so he ended up in the middle and almost on top of Brad. “Why wait,” he snickered.

“Redheads,” Brad huffed. “I plead insanity.”

 

* * *

 

“Why are we back here?” Schuldig asked Brad while they walked through the streets of some small city. Ran knew the name, but it hadn't sparked any recognition in him. It was charming, in a way, old European buildings and narrow streets. The air was clean.

It was a little too warm that day to be wearing a leather jacket over his hoodie, but when the wind picked up every once in a while he was thankful for it. They were all dressed casually, even Brad, to not attract any attention. Very few people were dressed in suits here.

“Because, we are meeting up with them,” Brad said with a cocky grin. He nodded towards two figures further down the street who hadn't noticed them yet. “Let's go say hello,” Brad suggested. He had that precog smile, the one that told people that he knew the inner workings of the universe better than they did.

 

Ran barely recognized Farfarello. The woman looked normal enough, if a bit towards the Hippie side.

Next to him Ken groaned. “Great.”

Schuldig and Brad eagerly went ahead, while Ran made sure Ken didn't get lost on the way over. Ken hesitated enough that they ended up so much behind that Farfarello drew a knife when they walked up behind Brad and Schuldig.

“They're with us,” Brad said.

“Weiss is with you?” Farfarello asked suspiciously.

“Siberian is just here temporarily,” Schuldig said. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he didn't look very happy. “Oracle says we need him. The other one is Schwarz now.”

The woman smiled uncertainly.

“What now, then?” Farfarello asked.

“You need money, I need an assassin, shall we make a deal?” Brad asked pleasantly.

“I'm not sure I want to go back to being who I was,” Farfarello said.

Schuldig snorted.

“This one thing I think you can agree to,” Brad assured. “We're closing down headquarters. Your girlfriend might sleep better at night not having to worry about ending up as a lab rat again.”

Farfarello smiled and nodded. Ran thought he looked... sane. Normal. The world needed to stop doing somersaults.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Their base, as Ran referred to it, was an old abandoned Bed & Breakfast that Brad had purchased. Their cover story was that they were planning on running it. Farfarello and his girlfriend seemed to dislike the location, but not the idea.

The two love birds thankfully kept to themselves. Ran almost choked on pink clouds every time they looked at each other. It was disturbing how sickly sweet their romance was.

Brad locked himself up in what everyone referred to as 'the office' for the majority of the time. Ran suspected he slept in there too most days. Schuldig and himself were allowed in for brief periods, but everyone else was thrown out – sometimes literally.

Schuldig's need to be close meant he would sneak in with bribes a lot. Coffee, dinner, newspapers. Any excuse was good in Schuldig's book.

Ken had found a local ragtag soccer team. He didn't speak a word of the language, but Ran was more than happy to have Ken out of his hair.

Schuldig had joined Ran when he had toured the surrounding area, eaten strange food, had beer (and local wine oddly enough, Ran hadn't known it was made here), met locals, and generally played tourists. After the novelty wore off they worked out so much that the days they weren't sore from it ceased to exist. Brad would join them for the training every other day, sometimes less often. Ran suspected he just did it so Schuldig wouldn't bother him later.

“I think I'll vomit,” Schuldig grunted after they had collapsed in the back yard.

“I would, if I could move at all,” Ran panted. He barely managed to catch his breath between the words.

“Why are you guys working out so much?” Farfarello asked. He looked healthier, and a little heavier, than before. The eye patch was gone. He didn't bother with their training sessions at all, nor did Sally. Ken didn't either, but he seemed to stay fit from his other activities.

“Unlike you,” Schuldig said tartly, “I like staying in shape.”

“Isn't most of it going to be Brad outsmarting the world like usual?”

“This is Rosenkreuz, not some band of street thugs. The remaining people there are staff, they're well trained and loyal and fuck if I ever want to end up their lab rat again.”

“Good point,” Farfarello shrugged. “They aren't fond of you, eh?”

Ran rolled over to his back and tried to calm down his breathing. Farfarello left them and went inside.

“Sally is cooking again,” Schuldig muttered.

“Wanna go next door?” Ran asked. The elderly lady was peculiar, but she lived alone and she loved to cook. Unlike Sally she was good at it too. She was more than happy to have guests over, especially since she claimed the neighbors disliked her and refused to visit.

“Yeah, let's just shower first and tell Brad.” Schuldig tried to stand, but only managed to get up on all fours, so he let himself sink down on the ground again. “Or, we could just lie here.”

The door opened and Brad walked out. He was wearing pale blue jeans and a white button-down. Ran saw him smile at them and shake his head.

“I think we sat a new record,” Schuldig said. The faintly hopeful, placating tone suggesting that he wasn't up for a scolding. He'd been odd since they arrived. Touchy, softer voice, wanting assurances.

Brad just crouched down between them. “You're not going next door today, I'll take you two out. The old nutjob will give you food poisoning if you eat whatever she's making today and I don't have time for that.”

Ran nodded and saw Schuldig do the same. He still didn't feel strong enough to move. “I don't think I'll be able to go anywhere.”

Brad chuckled. “Idiots. You don't have to be so fanatical.”

“Easy for you to say,” Schuldig muttered. “You weren't broken down and built up until you were what they wanted. You just waltzed in, cocky as ever, and nobody dared touch you.”

“You're not a child anymore, they won't -”

“What? What won't they do, Brad?” Schuldig said harshly. “What if one of us gets caught? There are places downstairs you can't even exit once you're inside.”

“The odds of any of us getting caught are very low, Schu. Don't break down on me now. Please. We need you.”

Schuldig sighed. “A level three saves the world.”

“How do those levels work?” Ran asked. He had wondered for a while, but it hadn't seemed terribly important how Eszett chose to classify their personnel.

“They measure usefulness and strength. And you were classified a five, Schu,” Brad said. “It's a system used during classes to determine in which group you end up in. There are five groups, ranging from the weakest to the strongest. They're separated and taught different things. Fives are the ones who end up in teams like Schwarz, while the Ones are strictly civilians.”

Schuldig rolled over on his back. Brad paused to seat himself more comfortably. “Two, Three and Four are levels nobody wants. Too strong for civilian work, too weak for special assignments. They're taught to control their talents, but then they're sent off on their merry way.”

“Or sent to the labs,” Schuldig filled in. “Usually failed field agents are their standard lab rats, along with people who they feel are too powerful to be out and about.”

“What can a level five do that a four can't?” Ran asked.

“A level three telepath, like me, can play around in you head. You feel it though, you know it's not you. A five can fuck you over seven ways into next week and you will think it's all you. It's what you want, who you are, what you do. A level four precog is wrong about half of the time. A level two telekinetic can maybe bend a spoon, but a five can take down a house.”

“There's a large leap between one Five and another Five. You can have two people both classified as a Five be able to do very different things,” Brad said.

 

* * *

 

Ran was up early to practice with his katana. Before the sun broke, when the air was cold and the world slept, was the best time to practice.

Sometimes he lost track of time, just doing what he was supposed to because his body was used to it. No thoughts, no regrets, no hesitation, nothing but precise movements.

He couldn't let the art go, no matter what he used to kill the sword was a part of who he was. He felt more at ease when he held the blade.

It was like coming home.

 

* * *

 

Brad's grand plan was to take out as many of the faculty of Rosenkreuz as possible, and to try and do them in one by one. The place was secluded and all supplies had to be brought in, which meant someone had to go out on a regular basis.

They were already up in a count of ten. According to Brad that left three, and an unknown number of guards. He thought it was safe enough to move in. The test subjects and students had been evacuated when the staff started dropping dead one at a time.

Brad and Schuldig paired up and went in through the front. Ken was creating a distraction for the guards. Farfarello was next to Ran, sneaking through the abandoned buildings that used to be dormitories.

They saw no one, except for a few guards. Farfarello took a little too much delight in slicing them up, but he wasn't his normal self.

In one of the houses the cellar had an entrance to the lower levels. They had clear orders to stay away from the underground, so they sneaked past.

All was going smooth until Farfarello charged at one of the guards and got slammed into a wall by the telekinetic. The noise attracted more attention than they wanted, and soon they were surrounded.

 

* * *

 

Ran was hauled into what he assumed was an isolation cell, after they had taken his weapons and made him change into some bland cotton clothes. The room was a perfect square, bare except for a floor drain and a sink next to a rather basic toilet. There was a light fixture above, but it looked shielded by some type of glass.

The dim light wasn't turned off. He knew it was hours later, but he felt his sense of time slipping. Whatever their plans were, they were patient about them.

Two can play a waiting game, however. Ran sighed and got comfortable, he might as well meditate for a while.

It was hard to tell exactly but it felt like less than six hours later when the power went out. The lock to his cell was powered by electricity, so it popped open, but the door itself stayed shut. Ran got up and cursed when his muscles stung a little from being in the same position so long.

The heavy door opened when he pushed it, so he carefully walked out into the corridor. There were no lights, the pitch black soothed him, but it also made him more aware that he was unarmed. He paused next to a cell and pulled the door open, then left it like that. He heard someone slink out and then more doors opened simultaneously.

The lights flickered on again, and a dozen locks popped. He knew the guards might be back any second. The others were wary of him, but they were slowly making their way out as a group. Most of them looked unfit to walk around, but somehow they managed to make it look effortless. Like their bodies were nothing but tools for their minds.

The power abruptly went out again, but he had already seen the door to the stairwell. He knew he was underground, so the way out had to be up.

Schuldig had once mentioned that going down too far was a death trap. He hadn't mentioned what kind of danger they presented, but Ran was unwilling to try. When he got to the stairwell he noticed he was already on the bottom, though, and laughed quietly to himself. Someone brushed his mind with a slightly comforting feel to it. Then came a mental push, one that told him time was short and that he had to move.

Three floors up and he saw a barrier. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to see it, but he did anyway. One of the more odd looking people climbed up to him and pointed to the panel just ahead. Ran pushed it, which made it light up with a soft orange light. “ _Puzzle_ ,” came from a female voice in his head.

And the panel lit up differently, forming shapes much like an IQ test. Ran rolled his eyes. “ _Stupid throwing you here_ ,” the female voice once again skittered across his brain once the last one was solved and the green light indicated that the barrier had dissolved.

A dead guard on one landing gave him the clue that the power outages was not an accident. The blood was fresh. He took the rifle. The guard had no extra ammo on him, but the magazine was almost full.

“ _Your friends need a bit of help_ ,” the female told him. She was a middle-aged woman, slim and not as malnourished as the rest. Her hair was flaming copper.

Ran nodded. “Do you know where they are?”

“I know everything,” she laughed. Her voice was rough, like she never used it. “Comes with being a telepath. Follow me. I think the enemy of my enemy will have to be my friend, so I won't hurt you. Though Heavens know I could.”

“Hn.”

“A man of few words,” the woman mused. “The name is Gisa. Or Giselle. You're... Ran. Odd name for a boy.”

They exited the stairwell and left the group of mismatched Talents continue on their own. Gisa walked through the corridors like she knew every inch of them. She stopped by a storage room. The shelves held clothes and there were lockers with guns and knives. Ran followed Gisa's example and changed clothes quickly.

“Practical boy, huh? Not even a peek?” Gisa teased. “Ah, gay. Makes sense.”

Ran finished tying the boots and shrugged. He grabbed a few knives and more ammo. Gisa moved like a soldier, he noted. She grabbed weapons almost on autopilot.

They were off not ten minutes after they had entered the room. Gisa picked the pace up and Ran fell in beside her.

The bland metal interior wasn't even trying to hide the fact that this was a place where no one wanted to be. They exited through a valve door that lead to a large open room. They were above the floor by a few meters, on a catwalk. Ran could see Schuldig and Brad in the middle talking to an older man with graying brown hair.

“ _That's Hans. He's the asshole headmaster of the school._ ” Gisa was sneaking forward as quietly as she could. “ _I'm blocking our presence but try to be quiet._ ”

Ran nodded once. They stopped when they were directly above Hans, both of them aiming for his head.

The shots rang out sharply in the barren room.

“That just blew your mind, didn't it?” Gisa called out to the dead body. “Hey, Oracle! Quit stalling. Your idiot cat has set the bombs too early again.”

Brad grabbed Schuldig and ran for the stairs up to the catwalk.

“Amateurs,” Gisa huffed. “Follow me. You idiots won't find the way out in time. Here I am with a bunch of no good lower talents who can't even figure out the most basic shit, and for what?”

“We got you out, shut it and move.”

Gisa saluted and laughed. She was so much like Schuldig.

“It's the other way around. He's a lot like me.”

 

* * *

 

They got out without incidents. Ran pushed open the door at the end of the stairs and looked around, but found nothing threatening. He held the rifle up as he moved out into the open, but no one was around. It looked like the stairwell had been an escape route, he was in a clearing a bit away from the main building.

The small building that he had exited was just to cover the stairs. He backed up quietly to see if anyone was on the flat roof, and there was.

“Siberian.”

“Yeah?” Ken flipped around and saw him, then quickly jumped off the roof and ran up to him. “Damn it, Aya, we thought you were dead! We got four minutes before the place blows up.”

Brad slapped Ken hard over the back of his head. “One of these days I'll start thinking you do it on purpose.”

Gisa snorted. “Mind if I hitch a ride with you?”

They started marching through the trees to a paved road where a van was parked. The explosion that suddenly ripped through the quiet landscape was not a small one. It was almost as if someone had set off a nuclear bomb.

“Not taking any chances, huh?” Ran asked.

“It's a bit personal,” Schuldig answered.

“Where's Berserker?” Brad asked.

“Took off already,” Gisa shrugged. “About an hour ago. That witch he has taken a shine to is a manipulative little shit, don't fall for her innocent act. You've lost him, alive or not.”

“Great,” Brad muttered. He didn't sound adverse to the thought.

Schuldig got behind the wheel and they piled into the vehicle.

 

* * *

 

“Do you guys need anything else?” Ken asked from where he was leaning in the doorway. “Because I'd rather get moving now if it's all the same to you.”

They were on a bed, in the hotel where they had gone after blowing up the school. Ran had dozed off and blinked while his head cleared.

“I think that'll be a good idea, Hidaka,” Brad said. He had slid back into his cold and calculative mask while Ken spoke. “The less I have to see of you the better.”

“Stay out of Japan,” Schuldig shrugged, also slipping into his professional persona. “There's a group similar to Weiss in England. I think you'll get along with them. They run a flower shop.”

Ran groaned. He was sick of flowers. Brad held him tighter.

“Yeah, that's how I reacted too,” Schuldig laughed, his eyes softer – less Mastermind and more Sebastian. Or Johan, as Gisa had called him before she took off. Or whatever his name was.

“Aya? You don't have to stay with them.”

“You're right, I don't have to stay,” Ran said with a smile. Both Schuldig and Brad tensed. “I never had to join either. But I did, and I'm staying.”

“I would let you go,” Brad said reluctantly.

“I know,” Ran said.

“We need plugs for your bleeding heart, Herr Crawford.”

Brad laughed, leaned over Ran and kissed Schuldig. “I didn't know you cared,” he smirked.

“I thought you were saying he was your father?” Ken asked.

“Ja, ja,” Schuldig muttered, “a little incest never hurt anyone. I'll give you a lift to the airport.”

Brad stayed with Ran when Schuldig got up. With Schuldig it was easy to talk, but with Brad it was easy to be silent. Despite loving the sound of his own voice, Brad preferred to let actions speak for themselves a lot of the time.

The door shut quietly.

Not having Ken around improved his mood. Ran felt himself smile and realized how strained it had been. “Next time, you're hiring a street thug or something.”

Brad huffed. “Stupid I can deal with, the idiot needs to learn to follow orders though.”

“Was Schuldig always so... hostile towards Farfarello?”

“No, but they weren't friends either. Schuldig took care of the team, but both Nagi and Farf were nothing but co-workers to him. He used to come bitch and moan to me about how he hated it that they needed so much supervision. Then we pick you up, and meeting Farf again made him realize how much it really bothered him.” Brad toyed with his hair. “I suppose it didn't help that the crazy Irish left you to be captured either. Schu cares about you.”

Ran shrugged. He felt tired, but not tired enough to sleep.

“I''m going to send you two to Japan,” Brad said.

Ran nodded, a bit disappointed, but willing to oblige. “Soon?”

“Yes, soon. I'll have to tie up a few loose ends here. Nothing dangerous.”

“Schuldig doesn't like being away from you.” Ran pressed closer and sighed. He wasn't too keen on splitting up either. “Don't do anything stupid.”

“I know. It'll be fine.”

“Want me to look up Nagi? You were worried about him when you came back from Japan last.”

“I'm not sure. Just don't get on Kritiker's bad side. Nagi chose his path.”

“You're so cold sometimes.”

“It helps in this business.”

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Ran, I hate to ask this of you,” Schuldig said as quickly as he could, “but I need help and Brad is still in Europe.”

Ran shrugged and put his book away. “What? Who? Where?”

“One business tycoon wants the competition taken care off. I can't get close enough. He's holding a speech at a stadium tonight, but the place is packed with cops and hired security. I don't want to wait until he's back from the Philippines and the little fuck leaves after the game.”

Ran raised a brow at Schuldig's agitation. It was far from normal for him to get so worked up, which meant it was important. “Snipe him.”

“I can't calculate wind and whatnots to save my life.”

“Okay. I'll snipe him.”

“You cool with that?” Schuldig worried his lower lip.

“He's going to die either way,” Ran said. He thought the concern for his moral and ethic standpoints was adorable, but he had already given up on most of them a long time ago.

Schuldig stopped and stood still for the first time Ran had seen him that day. Then the German nodded and showed him the files on the laptop.

“Okay, that building next to it should be good for the set up,” Ran pointed at the screen. “We need to get the gear and go though. Traffic is Hell today.”

Schuldig nodded, and Ran noted he had gotten everything out while he was reading up on the parameters. He changed into nondescript but practical clothes and picked up half the gear. Schuldig waited for him in the elevator.

The new apartment was in a modern style neither he or Schuldig cared for, and larger than they needed, but it had perks. The underground garage connected to a few storage rooms which they used to change in after missions if needed. The other tenants kept to themselves and didn't ask questions.

Ran nodded to the guard when they exited the elevator in the garage. Guard was probably not the right word, but they posed that way so that was how he thought of them. “Be careful, lots of cops tonight,” the guard said casually.

“We will, thank you,” Ran said with a smile. No need in alienating the local crime lords. He hadn't known when they moved in, and Schuldig had cursed Brad out over the phone about it, so he hadn't known either.

However, Brad probably had known very well. He was the type to get cozy with organized crime.

So far Schuldig had only bought one car, a popular model no one noticed in a discreet color. With Brad on a different continent he was in charge, and responsibility made Schuldig act less like a teenager and more like an adult. They loaded the car up quickly, and drove off. The drive took far longer than it should have, leaving them precious little time to set up at the chosen location.

The worst part of shooting something far away was that the bullet had a lot of air time. You needed to know everything from visibility to wind speeds to temperature and the maths involved was not to be scorned. Ran hoped his very basic training was up for this, because plan B included hijacking a plane. That was the type of thing that could end up with their faces on the late night news.

It wasn't that he had never used a rifle before, but if the first shot wasn't true they wouldn't get a second chance. It made his adrenaline go up, which helped calm him down. It helped to have Schuldig around, too, because while the telepath was not patient he had a lot of information scattered in his brain and could easily pick up more just from listening to what people thought at the moment.

He was close enough to the target to know it should be an easy enough shot. Schuldig stilled, knowing when the excess energy had to be contained. Ran pulled the trigger and held still while the seconds passed.

Schuldig whooped when the target was hit. Not perfect, but very lethal.

“We need to split fast,” Ran said as he packed up. “Did you see who was next to the woman in blue?”

“No?” Schuldig said and paused by the edge of the roof.

“Omi,” Ran paused as well. “Kritiker might be on our heels.”

“Like the good old days,” Schuldig smirked. “Ready for some parkour?”

Ran smiled and nodded once. They jumped across to the next building, which was a little lower. The gear slowed them down, but not much. If it was anything he had learned in his time in Schwarz it was that a little acrobatics could help you escape quickly. Schuldig could have put any elite gymnast to shame if he had been inclined to live a normal life.

 

* * *

 

The news the next day had the story on repeat. Ran had been interested the first time, but now he was back to reading. It wasn't the first time his handiwork ended up on the news. Schuldig had been on the phone with Brad all morning, and last night he had met with his contact and gotten paid.

They were making money quite easily. Ran loosely kept a tab on their progress. It was in the tens of millions. Schuldig wasn't good with maths, but he did exactly what Brad had told him to do down to the dot. The system was complex. Brad had thought of everything, every thing that could go wrong was accounted for.

Schuldig whined into the phone and touched books in the bookcase randomly. Most of the time he and Brad weren't talking about anything, just making sure the other was still breathing.

The knock on the door forced Ran to stop pondering if Schuldig had slept at all in the past couple of days. He opened it to find one of the 'guards'.

“Problem?” Ran asked without bothering with pleasantries.

“Good morning! We need to talk, may I come in?” The man asked politely. His stiff movements hinted at nervousness.

Ran held the door up and motioned for him to come in. Schuldig was keeping an eye on what was going on, but he was arguing in German over the phone.

“I won't take long,” the guard excused quickly. “My boss asked me to talk to you on his behalf. He wants to know if the both of you need... employment?”

So they had pieced things together. Good for them.

Schuldig sighed dramatically and pushed his phone in the face of the guard. Ran noticed that the man didn't flinch, he simply took the phone and started talking. The guard handed him the phone after a few minutes and Brad's voice told him to work with the mobsters if it was at all possible, a quick look to Schuldig told him that this had been the earlier argument. Precogs. You just can't win over them.

Ran told his team leader they'd do their best, then handed the phone back to Schuldig. He glared at the guard while Schuldig hissed and growled a few more sentences into the device.

“I hope you don't have a bad history with my friend,” Ran told the guard. He left 'for your sake' out of it verbally, but it traveled across just fine without being voiced.

“No, though the old boss made a few passes at him,” the guard said under his breath. “We get along well with the American.”

Ran nodded. “Alright. Who took over? Kimura?”

“Yes. Do you know him?”

“I used to work under Kritiker,” Ran said by way of explanation. “It was my job to know things.”

The guard didn't look pleased, but he nodded. “Why did you switch sides?”

Ran smiled coldly. “Takatori runs Kritiker, I would hardly describe them as the guiding light for humanity. It's not the largest step one could take.”

Schuldig had ended the call and stood next to Ran. “Well, this has been a lovely chat, but we will have to continue it later.” Then he shoved the guard out and slammed the door shut. “Bye bye.”

 

* * *

 

Ran answered the phone with a short “Talk!” and continued setting the table while he listened. Schuldig rolled his eyes.

As soon as he got off the phone the German took it. “Ran, where are your manners? There is something called phone etiquette. Hello, goodbye, how are you, that stuff. The world is in a sorry state if I have to be the one teaching etiquette.”

“I don't have manners,” Ran said.

“I can tell that,” Schuldig laughed. “It's not as apparent in the States, but here in Japan you sort of stand out.”

“At least I have a warning sign,” Ran said while pointing at his cherry red hair. It was back to normal. Schuldig had gotten bored with hair dyes. Nail polish was his latest obsession. Without Brad to dictate his wardrobe Schuldig looked like a glam rocker most of the time.

“Who was it?”

“Maintenance. Someone has set the thermostat to 'Hell', and they can't fix it before tomorrow morning.”

“We should sleep in the tub, it's what? 40 degrees Celsius?”

“Close to it,” Ran said and took some ice cream out of the fridge. “Is Brad still coming home tonight?”

“Think so,” Schuldig sighed. “He said a time, but if it was our time zone or his... I don't know. Either he already landed or he will.”

 

* * *

 

Ran gave Schuldig and Brad a little space, because they were glued together and acted like it had been years since they had been separated.

Out of the blue, both of them pounced and trapped him against a wall.

“I have decided that we should go clubbing,” Schuldig proclaimed.

“OK,” Ran smiled.

“Brad wants to show off, so -”

“We'll dress up like we normally do?”

Schuldig giggled. “Yep.”

“Not quite,” Brad said. Schuldig pouted. “I want you to wear these.” He held up two leather collars. They were made of smooth, black leather with steel details and gemstones studded in even rows. One had blue, the other purple, perfectly matching their eyes. The center had a D-ring, but no chain attached. It would still be easy to grab if one needed to.

“Should we wear anything else, or would you parade us like slaves?” Ran asked.

Schuldig smirked.

“Not that type of place,” Brad smiled. “You two will stand out as it is.”

“We'll change then you can put those on us when we're done.”

Brad kissed him. “You have a kinky mind. I approve.”

Ran shrugged. Schuldig was already pulling him off, talking about colors and make up and whatnot. The German was a visual creature. And he very much liked to have a living doll to dress up.

They were done relatively quickly. Schuldig was still excited about Brad being back and refused to spend too much time away from him. The German had dressed them both in sturdy boots and tight pants that rode dangerously low on their hips. It wasn't leather, but the shiny material looked like it. Leather was too constricting on a dance floor for Schuldig's liking, Ran knew. And thongs. Schuldig had some sort of an unholy love affair with women's underwear.

Apparently they were 'comfortable and colorful'. It was something Schuldig would consider perfectly logical and acceptable. The guy was no crossdresser, but labels needed not apply in Schuldig's world. He cared not if the designer had made it for a man, woman or child. If the shoe fit, it fit and that was the end of it.

Personally he found it more important to be able to hide a weapon or two in his boots, since he was without both a jacket and a shirt.

Ran followed Schuldig out to the hallway where Brad waited. The American easily attached the collars around their necks.

The car ride was filled with Schuldig babbling about inane things. Brad had convinced one of the guards to drive, so they were all in the back seat of some sort of limo.

Ran laughed out loud when they pulled up at a small club. “Oh, we will stand out alright.”

“What is this place then?” Schuldig asked.

“You'll see, liebling,” Brad said as he got out. They followed. The interior was sleek and modern, most people milling around in suits and evening gowns.

Schuldig put an arm over Ran's bare shoulders. “This could be fun,” he whispered, lips brushing against Ran's ear. The music was loud, but not loud enough to force people to shout.

Ran nodded, snaking an arm around Schuldig's waist. When they reached the bar, where Brad was ordering something from the bartender, they slid up on either side of the taller man.

“What do you want to drink?” Brad asked.

“Oh, I could swallow just about anything,” Schuldig said with a wink. He was loud enough that a few people turned to look.

“As long as I get a cherry, just order anything,” Ran shrugged.

Brad slapped him hard on the ass, but he did tell the bartender to add cherries. Schuldig was two seconds away from a laughing fit.

Ran pretended to pout.

“What possessed me to get two redheads?”

“You were probably thinking with your dick again,” Schuldig snickered, then broke out laughing.

It wasn't that it was funny, Ran knew, but that Schuldig was giddy that Brad was back with them. He chuckled along, leaning on the bar a bit.

The bartender finished their drinks and sat the glasses down in front of them.

 

* * *

 

The weakest point of a protected system is a user who creates an easy password and then writes it down on a piece of paper. After all, why bring attention to yourself by using a bulldozer when you can use the key under the welcome mat?

Ran sipped his tea. He was in, but the access was restricted. No real surprise there. He hadn't expected much, he was just going to stir up some trouble.

The internet cafe was full of kids. Most of them kept to themselves, but about a handful were joking and goofing around. They were right next to him, hanging over the shoulder of a girl. He got up and left his seat, making eye contact with one of the boys. “Hey, take my place, I have to go home.”

The boy smiled and thanked him. He didn't look back when he left the building, he didn't need to. He knew without a doubt that curiosity would do all the job for him.

His phone started playing a random song, so he picked up. There was no real point in trying to set anything specific when Schuldig changed his settings every day. Sometimes the language was a different one too, which was always an extra layer of confusion. Today his phone spoke French.

“What are you doing?” Brad's voice asked.

“On my way home, why?”

“Don't even begin to play innocent,” Brad said next to him. His voice was stern, but it had an amused undertone.

Ran hit the red button on the screen and pocketed the device. “Okay.”

“I expect this from the other redhead,” Brad sighed. “I'm not saying it's trouble, but it's...” Ran waited while Brad tried to find the right word to describe what was probably happening to his visions. “Chaos,” the American finally said. “Perfect name for you.”

Ran smiled. “Alright, alright,” he said and put his hands up. “Sorry for dropping a bomb in your neatly ordered visions.”

Brad snaked an arm around his waist and lead him through the crowded sidewalk. The touching was nice, he liked it. Ran leaned into him while they waited to cross the street.

Schuldig was always more than willing to be petted, like a lazy cat. The easiest way to make Schuldig forgive you, for anything, was to touch him.

“This is going to be hilarious, though,” Ran said just as they turned a corner.

“Again, wrong redhead,” Brad mused mostly to himself. “It's like you two bleed over into each other. Schuldig has calmed down and you have opened up.”

“I think you're right. How was Naoe?”

Brad shook his head. “Not well. Way too skittish and I don't think the bruises were from a mission. So what have you done?”

Ran shrugged. “Don't know yet. We'll have to wait and see. But I will tell you two things; Kudou is back in active duty, and Aya has joined Weiss.”

“We might be fighting Weiss in the future,” Brad said hesitantly.

“I know,” Ran said solemnly.

“I won't force you to take part in it. I don't want to loose you.”

Ran nodded. “I appreciate it. But, I don't know. She's chosen this life. If she's prepared to face the consequences, if she thinks it's worth it... then why should I baby her.”

“Because family does that?”

Ran smiled. “Maybe. There's something else.”

The walked into a park, crossing it was the quickest way back to the apartment. There were people milling about, sitting on the benches and under trees. The area they were in was mostly devoid of people.

“Bad?”

“She has a kid.”

“Oh?”

“Father unknown. Conceived right around the time for that ritual.”

“We had nothing to do with it.”

Ran nodded sceptically. “You sure?”

“Mostly,” Brad hesitated.

“Because I love both of you, but I'm not blind. I know neither of you have any sort of moral compass. And Schuldig would find a quiet mind interesting.”

Brad stopped and looked like he had just been hit by a baseball bat. “Love?”

“I can't help it,” Ran said with a small smile still on his lips. “I just feel it. At first I didn't understand it, because I feel the same way for both you and Sebastian.”

Brad took a deep breath and tried talk, but nothing came out.

“Yeah, Bastian said the same thing,” Ran said.

Brad pulled Ran close and hugged him. “I have no idea how to deal with this.”

Ran shrugged. “That makes three of us. But about Aya's kid... it sort of looks like Bastian.”

Brad groaned. “Have you told him?”

“No.”

“Are you upset?”

“In a way, yes.” Ran sat down on a bench. “In a way, no. I'm not surprised. Bastian can be sweet, but he can also be terribly cruel. Like a wild animal. Putting him in a house doesn't mean he's domesticated. He's still wild, still dangerous, even if he allows you to pet his fur and scratch behind his ear.”

Brad smiled, silently nodding. He still stood, looming over Ran. He was quiet for a long time before he spoke again. “Strong telepaths are always like that. They're exposed to the darker side of the human mind so much that they're jaded at a young age.”

“I'm not sure I want the kid to grow up in Kritiker.”

“It's not your decision, it it?”

Ran smiled. “You sure? He might enjoy having a Mini Me.”

 

* * *

 

Schuldig had managed to get beat up. His lip was swollen and bled.

Ran leaned forward and licked the blood off.

“You like the taste?” Schuldig asked.

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

They were spending the weekend in a large house in the countryside. Kimura had invited them to get a chance to talk to Brad, and undoubtedly forge plans.

Ran had taken a walk with Schuldig to get a feel for the area. Schuldig had gotten better with accepting the “lowlife gangster wannabes”, as he called them. Compared to Eszett most organizations seemed infantile in their ambitions.

The living room was shaped like an L and had two seating areas. One western and one traditional. Brad was sitting on the floor by the low table. Ran sat down easily next to him. One of Kimura's men stared openly at him. Ran pretended he had never seen the blonde man before in his life, taking a hint from Brad's barely hidden amusement.

Schuldig stalked over, took a look at how Brad and Ran were seated, rolled his eyes and promptly sat down cross-legged close to Ran. He growled at Kimura mostly out of habit and said some nasty things in German to no one in particular.

Ran knew that the German wasn't going to start playing nice just because he stopped being hostile. Schuldig never made life that easy – for anyone – without a carrot or two thrown his way.

“Now that we're all here,” Brad said, ignoring Schuldig. “How about we get to know each other?”

“We have met before, except your latest member,” Kimura looked between Ran and the man to his left curiously. “Though perhaps you two have met each other?”

Ran nodded once. “Hn.”

“What's Kritiker up to now, Kudou?” Brad asked amiably. “I heard you lost your memory.”

“I think you have me mistaken for someone else -” Yoji tried.

Schuldig perked up a little. “Asuka died again? You've lost her, what, three times now?”

Kimura looked to Brad. “You know him?”

“He's an agent serving under Kritiker,” Brad said. “Yes, I know who he is. Though he doesn't seem to remember me. A shame, really. We have such a long history between us.”

“Don't!” Schuldig held his hands up when Kimura's men moved to grab the spy in their midst. “Really, don't. We're going to have some fun first, then he's yours.”

Brad smiled. “I take it you remember Fujimiya?”

Yoji nodded uncertainly. “I do remember him, but I'm not sure from where. And I have only lost Asuka once.”

Schuldig's eyes had fluttered halfway shut, a small smirk played on his lips.

“I'm glad you remember him at least. Aya used to work in a flower shop with you,” Brad said in a poor mockery of a friendly conversation. “Along with Ken Hidaka and Omi Tsukiyono.”

Ran just sat there, letting them have their fun. He did feel bad for Yoji, but mostly it annoyed him that even though he had gotten his wish of an erased past the blonde had still chosen the same path. Still joined Kritiker. Still taken up killing.

He knew when Schuldig was done, he saw the tormented look that filled Yoji's eyes. Those eyes locked on to him, as if nothing made sense any more. It probably didn't. “You can't escape your sins,” he said quietly. “It's your burden to carry.”

“You're with them?” Yoji asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“I shouldn't be surprised. It comes too easy for you.”

Brad made eye contact with Kimura and the man waved his hand to indicate the men could take Yoji away. “Don't kill him, he knows nothing of value,” Brad said. “I'm sure his masters will appreciate getting him back.”

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Schuldig and Ran looked down on the fumbling band of assassins. They themselves were standing on the roof of a low building, silent shadows in the warm night.

Yoji Kudou was once again finding himself with no Asuka in his life, but a wire to make it all better. He had healed since the beating he had received by Kimura's men. And there was an Aya Fujimiya with a katana. Except it was a slim girl, and she wasn't very good at wielding the sword.

The other two were new. Two young boys who barely knew how to keep themselves alive, judging by the awkward way they held their weapons.

Ran aimed his gun and shot the man they had cornered before the idiot could talk.

“Good shot,” Schuldig said quietly. He usually gave compliments freely, at least when it came to the team.

“Thanks,” Ran said just as quietly. He secured the gun and tucked it away. They both jumped off the roof and landed smoothly on the ground.

“Stand down Balinese,” Ran said loudly.

Yoji's wire retracted, but he seemed confused. Ran had asked Schuldig to help him track Weiss down so that he could talk to his sister.

“I just want a few words with Aya,” Ran said and smiled.

“How do you know my name?” the girl screamed and rushed forward.

“That's insulting,” Ran said with a frown. She had recognized him by the time he said it, but he didn't care.

“Hello there... Aya,” Schuldig smirked. “Looks like you age after all.”

“I'm going to give you an offer, Aya,” Ran said. “If you leave Kritiker, leave Weiss, I will make sure you can start over.”

“I don't want to leave Weiss,” Aya said. “Ran, we're taking out the bad guys. We're helping. We -”

“He knows that,” Yoji interrupted. “He was Weiss once too.”

“If you don't leave, Aya, we will end up fighting each other.”

“So be it, then,” Aya said sadly. “I will hunt the dark beasts no matter who they are. Yoji always says killing makes you go crazy. You should have stayed, Ran. You should have stayed on the good side.”

“I refuse to work for a Takatori,” Ran said quietly. “If this is your choice, then this is goodbye. I won't kill you, but I also will not save you. Say hello to the little one for me.”

Aya nodded grimly. “You know about him?”

Ran smiled and walked away. He mentally told Schuldig what he was about to do and then dropped a flash drive on the ground. “I'll give you a gift, though. This is the data you were sent after. It's not encrypted, so you won't need a hacker.”

“Bye bye, kitties!” Schuldig waved happily. The telepath kept the same casual pace he himself did, but Ran knew he was bubbling with energy on the inside. “Chaos. Best name in the history of names,” Schuldig grinned. “I bet you just fucked over every precog in Asia.”

They took the subway home, to easier shake off any tails they might have picked up.

“What have you done?” Brad screamed when they stepped inside the apartment. He was sitting on the couch, bent over forwards, with his head in his hands.

“Oh Brad,” Schuldig laughed. “Oh, you have no idea how much fun I've had tonight! Ran gave the kitties a virus.”

“I did what I do best,” Ran said.

“Yes, thank you, my visions are buzzing like a hive of angry bees.”

“Sorry.”

 

* * *

 

Johan stalked the woman again. He was a graceful predator when he wanted to be. He could make people ignore his presence completely.

Today he wasn't being stealthy. Today she knew he was following. Every corner she turned, every time she turned her head to look, every window reflection – there he was.

Of course she confronted him eventually. It would make anyone nervous, and that was the point.

“What do you want?”

Johan smiled sweetly. “Oh, nothing much.”

 

* * *

 

“What happened last night?” Brad had gotten used to coming back to a clean apartment, maybe a few scattered books or one of Johan's projects, but it was never as messy as it was this morning.

“The neighbors listened to loud music all night,” Ran said in a raspy voice. He was draped over the couch on his belly.

“Oh?” Brad stepped over a young boy with green hair passed out in the hallway. The slight frame reminded him of Johan in his teens. But it was the wrong shade of green.

“Not that they had a choice, we weren't quite willing to turn down the volume,” Johan snickered from his place on the coffee table. He was sitting with one leg on each side of it.

Brad didn't bother anymore, Johan would use furniture as he saw fit no matter how much anyone nagged. He looked sceptically at the two half naked girls sleeping under the kitchen table. If they were even a day over 18 he would be very surprised. “Why?”

“Fun,” Ran said.

Brad nodded slowly. “And to think that I always took you for the quiet type.”

“Still waters, and all that,” Johan whispered with a smirk on his lips. “And impulsive.”

“We should probably give them back,” Ran sighed. “Do we have duct tape?”

Johan made an excited noise and bounced away towards the bathroom like a whirlwind. Or that Tasmanian devil from the cartoons. Johan could quietly sit and look like the picture of boredom for hours on end, but once he found something worth doing there was no stopping him.

“Give them _back_?” Brad asked. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ran got up from the couch slowly and followed Johan. “Yeah, they're Kritiker agents. We sort of stole them and got them drunk.”

Brad felt a headache forming. Sometimes he wondered if Ran and Johan secretly hated him and did everything in their power to screw with him.

“We're off tomorrow anyway.”

He sighed wearily. “Yes, we are.”

“I'm gonna stay behind for a little bit,” Johan said. “Won't be long and I have that other place.”

“You have a month,” Brad said quietly. “And you had better follow the law to the dot if you're going to do what I think you will...”

Johan smiled a pleased and cocky smile. His eyes were almost sparkling. “Sure, grandpa.”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Johan wasn't gloating on the outside. He maintained a carefully mastered somber expression. He held the young boy in his arms and allowed the lawyers he had hired to lead him away.

The child in his arms was his own. The DNA proved it, and now he was the sole caregiver.

He had done it behind everyone's backs. Raped a defenseless girl. Brad had found out, of course, but then Brad always found out sooner or later. And Brad always covered for him.

He hadn't known about the pregnancy, but as soon as he had found out about that little fact, he had decided to take the child that had been hidden away. It had taken remarkably little effort. She wasn't a good mother and Johan could easily sweep in, posing as a knight in shining armor. He loved the irony in that.

The girl was heartbroken even though she disliked the little boy. It was so sweet. So precious. So deliciously wicked. It tasted better than fine wine on a lazy summer's day.

On the inside Johan was damned pleased with himself. Brad had said that Ran didn't want the boy to grow up in Kritiker's care. He hoped Brad was right on that.

 

* * *

 

He put the boy down when they were inside the apartment. Johan was not a nice man, but even the Devil takes care of his own. Brad had taught him that, had made him realize everyone needed a little love and a place to belong. The child would never have anything to fear from him, he decided. It wouldn't be nice to grow up like he had done himself. He absently stroked the soft cheek and looked into the pale eyes. “You look like your uncle,” he said with a smile. “I know him, you know?”

“Hungry,” the little boy said softly.

“Let's eat then,” Johan said. He stroked the wild hair, another smile on his lips.

The child had grown up with babysitters more than with its mother. During the supervised visits he had been allowed he hadn't bothered to trick the little guy, it hadn't been at all necessary. The child wanted a parent who was there.

The girl had never told her son about him. She hadn't known who the father was. The look on her face had been enough to make Johan feel like the cat who ate the canary. Pun intended.

The boy had been here before, but not alone. He clung to Johan's clothes while the grinning man prepared two plates with sandwiches and made tea. Johan gently coaxed the boy into the living room and turned the TV on.

 

 


End file.
